The Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta feels like Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not the attacker the club needs right now, but at least the Armenian agrees…
Look, it’s never good when a player and their club want differing things. This only leads to tension and a hard decision over the best steps forward. Football is very much like the real world, it works best when there is a consensus, which is why it’s good that Arsenal and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have reached that consensus.
Mikel Arteta recently unveiled the 5-man list of players he wanted to sell in the summer transfer window, of which Henrikh Mkhitaryan was unsurprisingly featured, more on that here. Anyway, a new report from the Daily Mail claims that Mkhitaryan agrees and he would rather his spend his future in Italy playing for Roma.
And who can blame him? The Armenian didn’t have the best of times at Arsenal as he was often criticised for being average at best, which was a fair judgement to make.
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However, he is more appreciated in Serie A because he has been performing a lot better. In 13 Serie A appearances, Mkhi has scored six and provided three.
Mkhitaryan was signed by Arsenal from Manchester United as part of the weirdest swap deal in history. It involved a certain Chilean whose name I shan’t mention, remember? Cough, Alexis Sanchez, cough.
Well, Mkhitaryan actually performed better for Arsenal than Alexis did for United, which went against the hypotheses of many including myself. Consequently, it was very satisfying to watch United fans grow frustrated by the Chilean.
So, what I’m saying is that Mkhitaryan’s departure will be by no means as salty. The club and the player agrees this is the right thing to do and it seems a large proportion of us fans think the same.
That said, Mkhi can leave with his head held high and we as fans should thank him for filling in at a time of need, even if his services are no longer required.
What was your favourite Henrikh Mkhitaryan moment in an Arsenal shirt?