Bremen in for Klaass capture
CENTRE-BACK Sokratis Papastathopoulos has promised to bring back some old-school, hard-asnails defending to Arsenal.
UNAI EMERY hopes he will be given the support at Arsenal that he lost at Paris Saint-Germain once Neymar arrived.
Emery left the French club at the start of the month having led them to the Treble and in May claimed the Brazil striker had more influence than he did as manager.
Asked about those comments yesterday, the new Gunners boss (right) said: “I don’t remember saying that, but I have my ideas, my way, and the support is here for me to work with the same mentality I wanted all my career.
“To give the team a good spirit and good energy with very good quality players. This is my work every day.”
Emery confirmed Alex Iwobi is close to agreeing a new deal to keep him at the club until 2023. DAVY KLAASSEN’S Everton nightmare is over following his £12million switch to Werder Bremen.
The Holland midfielder was one of last summer’s arrivals under former Blues boss Ronald Koeman.
But he struggled to adapt to English football and when his compatriot was sacked in October, chances became even more limited for the 25-year-old.
Of his 16 appearances for the Toffees, just three of which were Premier League starts, only five came after Koeman’s departure.
Klaassen almost went on loan to Napoli in January only for the move to collapse at the last minute.
But after concluding a move to Germany for half of what Everton paid for him, Klaassen is looking to rebuild his career.
“It was important to me to know exactly where the journey was going on the pitch and the ambitions of the club have convinced me,” he said.
“The coach here wants to play attractive, offensive football. I am really looking forward to this and feel I can make an important contribution here.”