Why Mkhitaryan will choose Arsenal over Man United

The majority of Arsenal transfer rumours in recent weeks, or at least those that were dealing with the Borussia Dortmund and Armenia international star Henrikh Mkhitaryan, were speaking in very positive tones about our chances of securing the services of the talented, dynamic and effective (23 goals last season) attacking midfielder.

This was mainly down to the increasing number of reports about the coveted 27-year old telling his current Bundesliga club that he wanted to leave and with just a year to run on his contract that meant that Dortmund had little choice but to sell. However this was before the rumours reported by the Daily Mail that some of Europe’s biggest hitters had joined the transfer tussle.

The report claims that our big spending Premier League rivals Manchester United and the Italian champions Juventus are prepared to fight Arsenal for this top player but I for one am not too worried and I will tell you why.

First of all is the fact that Mkhitaryan is known to have been a big fan of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal for a long time, as an interview reported on UEFA.com years ago makes crystal clear.

He said, “My favourite team is Arsenal.

“I like their attacking play and fast style. Moreover, Arsène Wenger puts faith in young players while demanding results at the same time. I like that and want to play there one day.”

Need I say more? Okay then, how about the fact that going to a club without Champions League would be a step down from Dortmund, so why go to United? Okay Juventus are champions and will be in pot 1 for the UCL draw next season but they are not in the Premier League and cannot meet our financial power thanks to the new TV deal.

Let’s go further and talk about playing opportunities, with the departure of Tomas Rosicky. the injury to Danny Welbeck and the struggles of Theo Walcott opening up a massive Mkhitaryan shaped gap in the Arsenal first team. The main plus point for Arsenal, though, seems to be that we are his favourite club and that he is a huge Wenger fan.

So is this top player set to snub this new reported transfer interest and sign for Arsenal this summer?

Bob

Tags Juventus Wenger

10 Comments

  1. He may like Arsenal’s style of play and fast style but all of that will become moot when United offer him a huge bumper salary.
    Loyalty is bought in football…

      1. He will go to Man U. I doubt very much that Arsene is even looking at him and even if he was Manu would get him. We can fool ourselves to think that isn’t the case but we know it is.

  2. he is a typical Arsenal player
    Manu doesnt fit him and he will end up like Di Maria. neither manu fans nor mourinho have patience for players to settle in. AW does (we fans dont lol)
    i think Arsenal can match his salary expectation if only Dortmund accepts Arsenals bid

  3. With this interview being over 7 years old, can we really get carried away about this indicating his current mindset?- especially when he’s talking about admiring young players being given a chance at Arsenal (from the point of view of a young, up-and-coming player). I hope so of course- would likely be a great signing!

  4. The way I see it, there is no BETTER man/human in world football management than Wenger right now…the man encompasses every values, ethos and integrity that football craves and is in dire need of….BUT unfortunately those qualities rarely win you things in the modern game so whoever we are linked with, let’s just hope and pray they share the same romantic views of the beautiful game as Wenger does because once managers like Pep, Moanhino, Conte signals interest in any player we want, chances are they, the players will choose these 3 over us, simply because these teams have more money than us and most tellingly these managers are recently more successful and k knows how to win whilst Wenger seems lost and bereft of ideas in the last 10 years…

    1. “lost and bereft of ideas in the last 10 years” or infact building a new stadium as an inspired idea to stay in touching distance in the longterm with the megamoney clubs you speak of.

  5. I would love him to join us despite the fact that I will struggle with typing his name “Mkhitaryan”
    (Allow me to baptize him as Mkhit.)

    I think he is exactly the type of player we need, after we sign a top quality striker not in place of.

    My worry is that Wenger is not even remotely interested in him. I can not see Wenger sign two more top quality players this summer. Mkhit’s price tag should be in our ball park and I think signing him would go a long way to rebuild believe with fans and the likes of Ozil and Sanchez but IMO signing Mkhit would not eliminate the need for a 20+ central striker to replace Giroud.

    Also since Giroud is our central striker our game is not so fast any longer, but more often than not we try to lock our opponents in their own final 3rd and pass them to death in the hope to find a way through. No shooting, passing. Remember Elneny was told by Wenger not to shoot.

    If it were up to me we would sign a Lukaku or Morata as central striker (I would prefer Aubayang, Lewendowski or Higauin but believe we can not attract them nor will pay what’s needed to get those type of players), we would add Mkhit or Mahrez and role the dice on Chambers and or the young lad from Bolton. Unless we can of load Theo, Ox and Wilshire or Ramsey, in which case i would go out and sign a starting caliber CD.

    And then I woke up and Vardy had rejected us…

  6. Those where some nice words. He must have been in Russia or before then when he said them, I’m assuming he was a young player at the time. Lately he is still said to fancy Arsenal, this sounds believable. Will utd offer him a 200 grand a week contract, this is the worry. I don’t think they will, Id say 150 160 at most, but they wouldn’t want to stretch that far just yet. I reckon we can easily challenge manu for this player, money wise. He’s not a giant name with giant fees going in all sorts of directions. Liv offered more to get Alexis, London might play a part here too. Actually the biggest worry of him choosing utd, could be the success which mourinho almost always delivers. But like the article says, we have CL football, and a brilliant record for gaining it. At Mkhitaryan’s age, a season cannot just be written off, and seeing how the next one delivers in European football. The style of play is in our favor, Mkhitaryan has already spoken on Arsenals style of football being a big draw. Players like some freedom when attacking, they like to express themselves. Mourinho puts leashes on some of his attackers, he has rules for them. Id say maybe we could still be the front-runners, I certainly hope so.

  7. Most of the players Arsenal gets linked with are Wenger fan and want to play in the stadium. However with this slow decision making it hampers the chances of getting good players along with experience of fans ruined in the midst. It will take a player who scores 40 goals a season really get the Arsenal fans excited and something to talk about even when there are players like Ozil.

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