Bukayo Saka says he has no idea how to say one former Arsenal teammate’s name
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Bukayo Saka has claimed that he doesn’t know how to pronounce the last name of one of his old Arsenal teammates.
The young Englishman has shared the dressing room with a number of players already even though he’s still only 22. One of them was Sokratis Papastathopoulos, whose last name is a nightmare for some to pronounce.
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty ImagesArsenal’s Bukayo Saka says he doesn’t know how to pronounce Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Arsenal signed Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund back in the summer of 2018.
The Greek centre-back spent two-and-a-half years at the Emirates, playing 69 games under Unai Emery, Freddie Ljungberg and Mikel Arteta.
Sokratis was a very serious figure in the dressing room. Everybody respected him, but it looks like not many knew how to pronounce his name.
While looking at a picture of Arsenal lifting the FA Cup in 2020, Laura Woods pointed at Sokratis and asked on TNT Sports: “Who’s that? I can’t figure out who that is. That’s not Xhaka, is it?”
“That’s Papa,” replied Bukayo Saka, who had no intention of having a go at saying his last name.
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When Woods was beginning to attempt to pronounce Papastathopoulos, Saka replied: “Don’t even… there’s no point.”
The presenter did try her luck, but got it completely wrong – who can blame her?! Saka then admitted he has no idea how to pronounce Sokratis’ last name either.
“I don’t know how to say it, I call him Papa,” he said.
Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty ImagesWhere is Sokratis now?
After two-and-a-half years at Arsenal, Sokratis’ contract was terminated and he left the Gunners and joined Olympiacos on a free transfer.
He played 94 times for the Greek giants and helped them win back-to-back league titles.
Sokratis, now 35, left Olympiacos last summer and remained a free agent until the last week of October. He then joined La Liga side Real Betis on a contract until the end of this season.
The Greek defender barely played in his first two months there, but he has started and played the full 90 minutes in each of their last two league games.
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