The Grifone had been linked with the 20-year-old talent for several weeks, but the confirmation of a £3m deal has now come through.

The two clubs went head to head last night in a friendly match won 1-0 by the Italians.

Papastathopoulos made his AEK debut at the age of 17 and is considered the best Greek defender in his homeland.

He is a tall centre-back standing at 1.83m and has been compared to the likes of Stelios Manolas and Tony Adams.

Papastathopoulos was the youngest player ever to captain AEK Athens, but was controversially cut from Otto Rehhagel’s Euro 2008 squad.