Arsenal: Mikel Arteta discusses changes to his squad
Sokratis Papastathopoulos hinted that he could leave Arsenal before his contract runs out in 2021. Papastathopoulos insists he won’t “sit” on his current deal if he is not happy with the opportunities he gets under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates.
I don't care. If I'm not happy, I don't play enough or the coach doesn't like me, I don't care about the contract
Arsenal star Sokratis Papastathopoulos
The Greek defender opened the scoring in the Gunners’ 2-0 victory over Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Monday before Eddie Nketiah sealed the win.
The 31-year-old picked up a rare start at Fratton Park as Arteta prefers to use the centre-back duo of David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi at the heart of defence.
The emergence of Pablo Mari and the imminent arrival of William Saliba in the summer from St Etienne hint that Papastathopoulos, who recently started playing in the unfamiliar position of right-back, could get even less opportunities going forward.
Having previously claimed that he will leave north London when his contract expires, the ex-Borussia Dortmund star now says that could change.
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"I don't think about it, I think every day to be happy and help the team and in the end we will see but what I say is that I am not a player who sits on a contract - I don't need it."
Arteta is planning to make some significant changes at the Emirates following a turbulent season that has seen Arsenal slump to 10th place.
The Gunners’ hopes of advancing to the Champions League next season were also dealt a massive blow last week as they were eliminated from the Europa League by Olympiakos.
Papastathopoulos admits that the team has regained some essential confidence after making it to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
He added: "It's a result that gives you a little bit of confidence back.
"Now we understand that first when you have three things to fight for and lose one (the Europa League) that last year you made the final in, it's hard.
"The first thing the manager said to us is that this game finished and we have to look forward.
"We still have a lot of a games in the Premier League but it is difficult and this year we didn't start very good."