Henrikh Mkhitaryan is likely to make his AS Roma move permanent this summer.
Arsenal sent him on a season-long loan to Italy after the Armenian proved to be surplus to Unai Emery’s requirements.
Mkhitaryan’s lack of form also played a major part in him being shipped out. Once, a highly reputed playmaker at Borussia Dortmund, the 31-year-old could never replicate that sort of quality in the Premier League. In fact, he has better adjusted to the Serie A scoring and assisting 10 times in 17 appearances this season.
Roma are looking to keep him permanently for a bid worth €15m. Fabrizio Romano told Italian news outlet, Calciomercato that both Mkhitaryan and Chris Smalling might end up staying at AS Roma beyond the 2019/20 campaign. When asked about the two, he replied, “There is some (chance) for both, but more for Mkhitaryan at the moment.”
Arsenal need to shift out some of their dead weight and unfortunately, Mkhitaryan does fall in that category. He is not expected to charm Mikel Arteta or the fans at this point of his career. His talents are far better suited to Italian football, where they cherish veteran talent more than anywhere else in Europe.
Previous reports suggested that Arsenal were holding out for a €25m bid and were only willing to go as low as €20m. Given the circumstances, they might agree to go lower just to get the Armenian’s wages off their books.
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