Manchester United “to offer 4-5-year contract to Henrikh Mkhitaryan”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Manchester United will offer four or five-year contract to Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has attracted the interest of several other clubs, including Arsenal, The Guardian reports.

United are hopeful that they can agree the fee with Dortmund in the next seven days.

José Mourinho is keen to sign the Armenia international as he steps up his recruitment drive before his first season in charge at Old Trafford. Mkhitaryan has one year left on his contract at the Bundesliga club and, while Dortmund have publicly said that he is not for sale, they have now admitted that the player is ready to move on.

United are ready to bid £30m (over $40.3 million) for the 27-year-old and are confident that Dortmund will accept their offer. The Armenian, who joined Dortmund in 2013 from Shakhtar Donetsk for £23.5m, is looking for a new challenge and is desperate to play in the Premier League despite an offer of a pay rise to remain at his current club.

The Dortmund chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, admitted earlier this month that the club had failed to convince Mkhitaryan to sign a contract extension but was still hoping to keep the player for the remaining year of his contract. That hope has now receded and the club, who have already lost Mats Hummels to Bayern Munich, are now trying to get the highest possible fee for the goalscoring midfielder.

Dortmund have already signed the highly rated Ousmane Dembélé from Rennes and, in the clearest sign yet that they are preparing for life without Mkhitaryan, made a £29.2m bid for the Bayer Leverkusen forward Karim Bellarabi last week, the Guardian says.

The Bayer Leverkusen sporting director, Rudi Völler, told Bild on Saturday: “There was an official request from Dortmund few days ago, but it was instantly rejected. To sell Karim is not an option for us at Leverkusen. He is definitely staying, he is not for sale.”

Dortmund are also monitoring the situations of Mario Götze at Bayern Munich and André Schürrle at Wolfsburg.