Arsenal transfer news: Henrikh Mkhitaryan rejects Borussia Dortmund offer as he 'looks at his options'
Mkhitaryan has just one year remaining on his contract and has been linked with both Arsenal and Chelsea
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Your support makes all the difference.Henrikh Mkhitaryan has rejected Borussia Dortmund’s latest approach to open contract talks, with reports of a Premier League move to either Arsenal or Chelsea growing stronger by the day after his agent admitted they are “looking at his options”.
Mkhitaryan has been linked with a move to England, although Dortmund are hugely reluctant to see another of their players leave the club after seeing Mats Hummels return to Bayern Munich last month.
27-year-old Mkhitaryan impressed last season as Dortmund finished as runners-up in the Bundesliga as well as reach the DFB-Pokal final, only to lose out to Bayern in a penalty shootout. Having scored 11 goals last season as well as laying on 15 assists, Mkhitaryan has caught the eye of officials at Arsenal and Chelsea, with a summer move tipped to be on the cards.
That could well come to fruition after the Armenian international rejected Dortmund’s latest approach to extend his current deal beyond its 2017 expiry, and his agent, the outspoken Mino Raiola, admitted that the midfielder is considering leaving the club and has no plans to extend his contract at present.
"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."
Mkhitaryan became Dortmund’s most expensive signing in their history when he joined the Bundesliga club in 2013 in a €25m [£21.5m] transfer from Shakhtar Doetsk, signing a four-year deal in the process which now has just 12 months to run.
The attacking midfielder notched 23 goals in all competitions after scoring seven times in Dortmund’s Europa League campaign, which came to an end at the quarter-final stage at the hands of Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.
Raiola has made a name for speaking publicly about his clients in a bid to earn them lucrative new contracts, with the Italian-born Dutchman also responsible for the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Mario Balotelli.
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