Chelsea and Arsenal interested in Dortmund defender Sokratis

Both Antonio Conte and Arsene Wenger are looking to strengthen their defensive options this summer and are monitoring the Bundesliga star closely

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Chelsea and Arsenal are interested in securing a summer transfer for Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.

The 29-year-old centre-back has suggested he is open to leaving the Bundesliga club in order to win silverware, with the Premier League pair both expressing an interest ahead of next season.

Sokratis, who made 26 league starts under the now-departed Thomas Tuchel at Dortmund last season, and 41 appearances in total, is thought to be open to a switch to England, though is undecided on where his future sits.

The Greece international was part of the Dortmund side which had to win on the last day of the Bundesliga season to guarantee a place in the Champions League group stage, ultimately finishing 18 points behind Bayern Munich as the Bavarians retained the German title.

Following Dortmund's final league fixture, and ahead of the club's DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt, Sokratis told Funke Mediengruppe he felt as though time is running out for him to add silverware to his personal collection, fuelling the speculation of a summer exit.

"If you're young, you have a lot of time to win things," he said. "But I'm not young any more, time is getting shorter and I really want to win a title."