Arsenal fans have taken to Twitter in their droves to make a surprise claim that veteran Greek defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos or “Papa,” as they affectionately know him, should be a contender their club’s Player of the Year award.

The group of supporters were replying to a poll that included four possible contenders for the Gunners’ POTY – midfielder Granit Xhaka, goalkeeper Bernd Leno and forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

However, while some believe that the 30-year-old should have only been included in the poll and therefore the POTY discussion, others want to see him winning the accolade in his first season at the Emirates Stadium after a move from Borussia Dortmund last summer.

Fans have remarked that he’s been the club’s best and most consistent central defender and the team haven’t been able to cope in his absence when he’s been missing, with some even going as far as making the bold statement that the backline has fallen apart whenever the 6 foot 1 Greece international hasn’t been a part of it.

Well, it’s hard to argue with some of the Gooners as when Sokratis has been at centre-back, Arsenal have played 20 times in the Premier League, winning on 13 occasions, losing just four times and keeping four of their six clean sheets.

Check out some of the best Tweets rooting for the summer signing to be a POTY front-runner after he was initially overlooked, below…