Manchester United “to offer 4-5-year contract to Henrikh Mkhitaryan”June 27, 2016 - 11:03 AMT 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. Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |