Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester United ‘deal nearly done’

With international football in full swing at the moment and everyone is busy following dual shifts of Copa America and Euro 2016, Manchester United fans are rejoicing somewhere as the Red Devils are closing in on two major summer signings.

While Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has announced his retirement from international football following Sweden’s exit from group stages, is all set to arrive on a free transfer, it seems United have sealed a deal for Borussia Dortmund’s attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan as well.

Sky Italia journalist Gianluca di Marzio has already confirmed that Manchester United are willing to pay €38m for the Armenian midfielder, who only has a year left on his contract. Dortmund seemed to have given a green signal for the deal to go through.

The German outfit wanted Mkhitaryan to stay but understanding that their star midfielder has already set his heart on joining United, they are left with no other option than to sell him at a profit.

According to Raphael Honigstein, a reputed journalist who works for Guardian, Dortmund have sent an official to Manchester and that the deal is “nearly done”. 

Dortmund have sent an official to Manchester, Mkhitaryan deal nearly done

— Raphael Honigstein (@honigstein) June 26, 2016

Mkhitaryan enjoyed a brilliant 2015/16 season where he scored 19 goals and further picked up 24 assists for Dortmund. He will be a terrific signing for United. A technically gifted player, who can play in any position across the midfield but mostly effective on the right wing, Mkhitaryan likes to take shots on goal (averaged 3.3 shots on goal in Europa League last season) and has this natural ability to score or find the right pass (he averaged 2.7 key passes per game in Bundesliga last season) for others to score.

Despite all his individual brilliance, one of the most interesting aspects of his game is he is a tenacious team player who from time to time puts in commendable defensive shifts. Rarely you find an attacking midfielder averaging nearly 2 tackles per game. In theory, the 27-year-old midfielder would represent a typical Jose Mourinho-signing as the Portuguese loves to work with wingers / attacking midfielders who drops deep (completely opposite to what Juan Mata offers) to help the defenders out.

Probably, the only bad thing about this transfer is how Mkhitaryan has lost his respect (to a certain extent) amongst the Dortmund fans. He didn’t want to sign a new deal while his agent Mino Raiola was determined to force through a move. All fair enough but to attack the club publicly and involving the press in it crying for a help is something that doesn’t go well with the loyal fans. Do United fans care? Hell, no.