Serie A side open negotiations to sign £21.8m Arsenal forward: report

Serie A side AS Roma are understood to have opened negotiations with Arsenal regarding the permanent signing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer.

The Armenian made the switch to the Giallorossi on loan before last summer’s transfer deadline and he has since made only 17 appearances in all competitions due to multiple injury concerns.

Despite this, he has impressed with a tally of six goals and four assists and he was in a purple patch for the club (two goals and three assists in four games) before the shutdown due to the COVID-19 threat.

According to Corriere dello Sport, Giallorossi sporting director Gianluca Petrachi has made initial contact with the Gunners over a permanent move for Mkhitaryan.

It is added that the Italian outfit are prepared to offer an initial £13.8m (€15m) for the Armenian with £4.3m (€5m) as add-ons but that package remains short of the Gunners’ £21.8m (€24m) valuation.

Mkhitaryan has less than 16 months remaining on his Gunners contract and the club’s hierarchy will possibly consider his sale following the temporary stint at the Stadio Olimpico.

However, manager Mikel Arteta has recently said that he remains a keen admirer of the 31-year-old and the attacker’s position could be assessed during the summer.

In that case, there is the possibility of Mkhitaryan being re-integrated into the first-team squad next season but that would surely be dependent on whether he is prepared to sign a contract extension beyond June 2021.