Manchester United target Henrikh Mkhitaryan ‘must stay at Dortmund'
Mkhitaryan, who scored 11 goals in the Bundesliga last season as Dortmund finished as runners up behind Bayern Munich, has one year of his current deal remaining having joined from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013. He has also attracted interest from Arsenal in the past, while United are reported to have offered around £19m to buy the 27-year-old.
However, the Dortmund chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, has admitted they are reluctant to sell him and has vowed to keep Mkhitaryan until the end of his contract.
"We have been negotiating with Henrikh Mkhitaryan for four months for him to extend his contract with us," Watzke told Bild. "Now we know that it is not extended, it was never our commitment that Mkhitaryan may leave us prematurely. We have intensely discussed the question of an early transfer in all club bodies and came to the conclusion that Mkhitaryan will stay in Dortmund next season."
That view is not shared by Mkhitaryan's agent Mino Raiola. The man who also represents Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli described Dortmund's reluctance to allow his client to leave as "bad management" and admitted that the opportunity to join United is "a unique opportunity".
"Micki has for months maintained that he may leave the club this summer," said Raiola. "Dortmund presented an official offer which was rejected, but now the BVB bosses fear of their own fans. Suddenly they tell Micki, that he should go next season on a free transfer. This is very bad management.
"Manchester United is a unique opportunity, Micki wants to go there," he added.
