Manchester United have made the attacking midfielder one of their top transfer targets this summer and after an initial refusal by Dortmund to allow him to leave, the CEO of the Bundesliga outfit has now admitted that the situation has changed.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been an integral part of Dortmund’s attacking trident along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus. The Armenian midfielder notched up 13 goals and 20 assists for Die Schwarzgelben last season, winning the Bundesliga Players’ Player of the Season in the process.
His performances have invited the interest of several top clubs including Arsenal and Chelsea. However, Manchester United surged ahead in the race to sign the 27-year-old, with his agent saying that Man United was his dream club.
Although Mkhitaryan’s contract runs out next year and negotiations with Dortmund have stalled, the Bundesliga club remained adamant in their desire to keep the player. The club hierarchy were willing to let him go as a free agent rather than sell him and Dortmund rejected Manchester United’s initial £19 million bid.
However, they are now singing a different tune after the Premier League giants reportedly made an improved offer of £30 million.
“The situation is now different,” said Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, according to German media outlet Bild.
“Manchester have made a much improved offer. In situations like this there are always a lot of different things to consider and in the end at one point we have to make a decision. And as we are back in training on Monday we will decide at the weekend. I have contacted the relevant people and we will weigh things up at the weekend. And then the board will make the decision, definitely at the weekend,” he added.
All indicators are pointing towards the midfielder becoming a Manchester United player next week. The transfer would make him the second signing of the Jose Mourinho era after former Villarreal defender Eric Bailly. For Borussia Dortmund it would be their third huge loss of the summer, after losing captain Mats Hummels to Bayern Munich and Ilkay Gundogan to Manchester City.
