Arsenal have been handed a transfer boost in the pursuit of Henrikh Mkhitaryan following reports that the Borussia Dortmund midfielder has turned down a contract extension from the club.
Mkhitaryan who has also been linked with Chelsea, Tottenham, and Juventus, has been targeted by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger as one of the reinforcements he wants to bring to the club as he plans to rebuild his team for the coming season.
Though, Dortmund are extremely unwilling to see another of their players leave the club after seeing Mats Hummels return to Bayern Munich last month.
The Bleacher via the Bild reported that the Armenia international whose current contract expires at the end of next season has rejected a new offer with his club.
https://twitter.com/Mr_Bundesliga/status/737585957189255168
His agent also stated that they are “looking at his options” and queried Dortmund’s stance to hold on to the player.
“Why would we sign a contract renewal now?” Raiola told German newspaper Bild. “Micki has a contract until June 2017 and we are looking at his options for the future.”
However, the 27-year-old may see out the remaining year of his contract as Dortmund are highly reluctant to let him leave after losing Mat Hummels to Bayern Munich last month and the potential exit of star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer.
Mkhitaryan moved to the Bundesliga club from Ukranian side Shakhtar Donetsk in a £21:5 million four years deals which made him Dortmund’s most expensive player.
He was in impressive form for Dortmund last season as he scored 11 goals and assisted another 15 in helping them finish as runners-up in the German league and reached the final of DFB-Pokal, which they lost via penalty shoot-out to Bayern Munich.
He could replace Alexis Sanchez who has been linked with a potential exit from the Emirates Stadium. His attacking prowess remains one of the features that caught the attention of Arsenal scouts and he would add to our attacking play.
The 27-year-old star became Dortmund’s most exorbitant signing in their history when he joined the Bundesliga outfit in 2013 in a €25m [£21.5m] transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk, signing a four-year deal in the process, which now has just 12 months to run.
The attacking midfielder netted 23 goals in all competitions after scoring seven times in Dortmund’s Europa League campaign, which ended at the quarter-final stage at the hands of Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.
