Henrikh Mkhitaryan is one of the problems Mikel Arteta will have to solve in the close season… whenever that might be. As of now, the midfielder is on the books of A.S. Roma and, it must be admitted, has been playing quite successfully. At the time the Italian championship season stopped, the Armenian had scored six goals, the same number as in the whole of the 2018/19 season at Arsenal. And this despite the fact that the player missed a lot of time through injury.

Arsenal’s behavior makes it clear that the club doesn’t have much faith in Mkhitaryan. It’s not enough for a player just to return to Arsenal; he will want to play on a regular basis. There’ll be problems with that too. Arteta may well have too many reservations about him for Henrikh to wear an Arsenal shirt again.

In the course of this season it became obvious that Roma and Mkhitaryan are a good fit for each other. The midfielder is useful on either side of the field. He not only scores goals, but adds variety to Roma’s attack, something that Roma’s head coach, Paulo Fonseca, has repeatedly talked about. The footballer himself is also happy being at Roma. He’s stated that he’s started enjoying football again.

In one of his interviews, Mkhitaryan honestly admitted that it was hard for him in England, referring to his time at both Manchester United and Arsenal. The midfielder likes playing under Fonseca and does not hide his desire to stay in Rome. The Romans have no pre-agreed option to buy Mkhitaryan at the end of the season. They would greatly like to keep the player in their lineup, but it is Arsenal who will have the last word in this matter.

The Gunners, it seems, don’t yet know what to do with Mkhitaryan themselves, although it’s clear that nobody in London would be too upset at the Armenian’s departure. On the other hand, Arsenal are making no concessions to Roma. They are asking £18 million for the player and have shown no signs of wavering from this amount.

According to the Express, by early April Arsenal had already rejected two offers for Mkhitaryan from Roma. The club are not backing off from their demands and Roma do not want to pay about €25 million for a 31-year-old player. At the moment, the situation seems to be deadlocked.

Mkhitaryan’s contract with Arsenal expires in summer 2021. Given that fact and the player’s reluctance to stay in the EPL, it would be logical to sell him at the end of this season. But to achieve this, the London club will have to reduce its financial demands. Otherwise, in a year’s time, the midfielder will leave for free.

In that case, Mkhitaryan will play under Arteta after all, even if right now the player feels happy at Roma. No one knows what Henrikh will turn out to be on a return to London – a useful player or a burden. It probably wouldn’t be the best move – it’s unlikely he will be better than Mesut Özil, despite all his antics, who is a high-level player who could have a serious impact on the game. So Arteta would be likely to choose him as the first choice attacking midfielder. Mkhitaryan finds it hard to play in England, and he makes no secret of it. The Armenian is 31 years old. He moves quite well, but needs a less intensive league in physical terms. Serie A is just right for him.

Given the current situation, it would probably be right for Arsenal to compromise and come to an agreement with Roma on less demanding terms. That is the most likely outcome.

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