Former Arsenal starter announces retirement | OneFootball

Former Gunner Sokratis Papastathopoulos has announced his retirement from professional football, along with his departure from current club Real Betis.

PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND: Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the FA Cup Fifth Round match between Portsmouth FC and Arsenal FC at Fratton Park on March 02, 2020. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Writing on Instagram on Saturday night, former Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos confirmed that he’s retiring at the end of the current campaign.

“I loved the city, the team,” Sokratis said of current club Real Betis.

“But my life away from my family is what forces this journey to come to an end. Therefore, I am happy that my own football career will end playing for Betis and the Spanish league.

“I would like to thank everyone who has been with me on this journey.

“My teammates, the entire team staff, the coach who believed in me from day one and made me feel like I belonged to this family for years. And the management of the team that chose me for this collaboration.

“And all you fans of the team for your support in victories and defeats.”

Sokratis Papastathopoulos at the Emirates Stadium with the Arsenal u23s (Photo via Arsenal Academy on Twitter)

This season has been a personal victory for Sokratis, returning to one of Europe’s top-five leagues after being released by Olympiacos last summer.

The defender has gone on to make more than 10 starts in under six months, proving he can still compete at a high level.

Earlier in his career, the 35-year-old made 69 appearances for Arsenal over a period of two-and-a-half years, winning the FA Cup in 2019/20.

It wasn’t all plain sailing in north London, with Sokratis being left out of Mikel Arteta’s squad in his final season, before having his contract terminated so he could pursue a transfer elsewhere.

But Arteta had plenty of praise for how the defender had handled that situation.

LONDON, ENGLAND: Michail Antonio of West Ham United battles for possession with Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on March 07, 2020. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

“I want to thank him because he is such a professional and great person to work with,” Arteta said in 2021. “It’s a shame because this season we have a lot of central defenders, we are overloaded with foreign players and I had to make a decision.

“It was a tough one and to be fair he took it really, really well, he has always been really supportive and helpful, so from the bottom of my heart I wish him the best.

“It has been a pleasure to work with him and I wish the best for him and his family in the next chapter.”

Sokratis bounced back to make 94 appearances for Olympiacos, and he’s now ending his career following a positive spell with Real Betis.

It was a career that began in his native Greece with AEK Athens before he embarked on a journey that took him to Italy, Germany, and England. He enjoyed successful spells with Genoa, Milan, Werder Bremen, and Borussia Dortmund before his move to Arsenal.