Definitely a value for money transfer for Borrusia Dortmund. He and Schalke's Kyriakos Papadopoulos are the best Greek CBs, right now. I can tell you he is a shy, down to earth person and the majority of the Greek fans believe that he can do better and move to an even bigger club.
I was a bit surprised (in a good way) that he survived Bremen's horrible tactics which abused defenders and got Klopp's attention. I think he will be much better next season.
He has always shown improvement when he had the right guidance. He made his breakthrough, at AEK Athens, under Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, who has managed Barcelona and Betis. He trusted him with a place in the starting xi at the age of 20, which is very uncommon in Greece. In that AEK side Sokratis also had the opportunity to play along side Dellas. I know that Greek players aren't rated at all here, but Dellas was a key memeber of the Greek team that won the Euro 2004 and he was Capello's personal choice for the CB position when he was at Roma.
He didn't succeed at Milan but Bremen were terrible the last couple of years. I don't know why others mention his two season at Genoa in a negative way. His first season there was his first time in a foreign country and the press in Italy are very critical regarding foreign CBs, as they believe that their domestic production is enough to fill all Serie A demands. In his second season there he started in most of Genoa's games and became a fan favorite. That's why AC Milan where interested in him.
I think that under a sublime manager like Klopp and with a player of Hummels' caliber in the same team he can only become better. He is fast and that gives him the opportunity to defend outside the box comfortably, he is very good in intercepting first balls towards the forward and he is excellent when it comes to aerial duels. He still has to improve his passing (i think he has this season) and he must stop committing needless fouls in dangerous positions.
