Wenger after Dortmund defender

Cape Town - Borussia Dortmund's Sokratis Papastathopoulos is the man Arsene Wenger wants to replace Thomas Vermaelen in the Arsenal defence.

Papastathopoulos, or Sokratis as he is known, is linked with a move to the Emirates according to the Mirror.

Thomas Vermaelen's departure to Barcelona earlier in the summer has left Wenger well short of cover for defensive duo Per Mertasacker and Laurent Koscielny.

Borussia Dortmund want £20 million for the 26-year-old Greek international but Wenger has instructed Arsenal not too spend more than £12 million on the player.

Sokratis is currently back up to Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels at the Bundesliga club and may be allowed to leave if the two clubs can reach an agreement on the fee.

Sokratis only joined Dortmund last season from Werder Bremen on a five-year-deal and made 42 appearances for the club. 

The defender has over 50 caps for the Greek national side.