Roma reach agreement with Arsenal to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Arsenal and AS Roma have reached an agreement that will see Henrikh Mkhitaryan join the Italian club on a permanent basis.
Mkhitaryan joined the Serie A side on a season long loan in the summer of 2019. He has had a productive season in Italy scoring six goals and providing four assists in 19 appearances across all competitions.
Roma have been keen on securing his signing on a permanent basis for some time now. The Gunners have been equally focussed on getting the 31 year old’s wages off their books. There were some reports that Arsenal were looking to sign Justin Kluivert in a swap deal involving Mkhitaryan and some money but this is believed to have never been the case. In a surprising piece of news, the Gunners will not receive a transfer fee for the Armenian.
The Gunners signed the Armenian in a swap deal with Manchester United that saw Alexis Sanchez head to Old Trafford and Mkhitaryan arrive at the Emirates in January 2018. The former Borussia Dortmund player scored nine goals and provided thirteen assists in 59 appearances for the North London club.
The departure of Mkhitaryan was inevitable and many will be glad it is now on the verge of completion. It is strange that the Gunners have agreed to a deal that will see them forego a transfer fee but they will save £7.2 million in wages.
Strange how a club struggling for money can afford to let a player leave without a fee even a modest one yes we save on his wages but if we had accepted a lower fee we could have added that to his wages savings and reinvested it into a transfer budget. But then this is Arsenal we are talking about.what else do we expect from the clowns who are running this club.?