The public knows him best for his serious look. His image is that of a man of few words. But what few know is that Sokratis is actually one of the jokers of the team. “Because that’s what the clubs wanted me to do,” he replied calmly, with his arms crossed, when asked on Saturday afternoon what had induced him to attend the press conference. And there was a spark of mischief in his eyes…

When asked about his goals for the season, he turned serious. “I expect a difficult season. We had a couple of players at the World Cup. I myself want to do better than last year – and I expect the team to make a step forward as well.”

He also intends to take over more responsibility in the team. “In my first year I was able to gain a lot of experience here and I feel as important as the rest of the team,” said the 26-year-old who got married this summer. “The last season was long and hard, and it was also a tough World Cup. But I had plenty of time to recover; I’m fit and looking forward to the season.”

Sokratis, who’s fluent in Italian, said that the task of integrating the new recruits (Ji, Ramos, Ginter und Immobile) is “the responsibility of all players.” The Greek said: “Other players, like Aubameyang, also speak Italian. It’s our job to integrate the new players as quickly as possible.”

That the nine-day training camp’s only free afternoon for the players was marred by poor weather only prompted a raised eyebrow from the defender. “Today is a day to recover. We should make use of that. We are powerless against the weather,” said Sokratis - especially since the players have so far also benefited from the weather (usually cloudy, not too warm) during their tough training sessions…