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Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has completed a season-long loan move to Serie A side AS Roma.
The Gunners announced the news on their official website.
While the Gunners didn’t provide any details of the move, writer James Benge reported Roma will cover most of his wages, and no option for a permanent switch has been included:
James Benge @jamesbenge
Henrikh Mkhitaryan on his way to Roma. I’m told they’ll be covering the majority of his wages and of course paying a loan fee. As I understand it there’s no option to buy, although of course clubs will be willing to negotiate a permanent deal if his time there is a success.
The deal takes the bulk of the Armenian’s wages off the books and opens the door to more playing time for the youngsters. Arsenal are not expected to compete for the Premier League title this season and will instead focus on developing the squad―removing Mkhitaryan helps with that.
The former Borussia Dortmund man joined in January 2018 in a swap deal for Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez. With the Chilean also leaving England this summer, it’s fair to say that transfer will go down as one of the worst in recent memory:
Liam Canning @LiamPaulCanning
The Sanchez-Mkhitaryan swap deal has to be one of the worst deals made in the Premier League. Both now in Italy.
Mkhitaryan grabbed three assists in his Gunners debut, a 5-1 win over Everton, but that turned out to be the high point of his Arsenal career. He scored just nine goals for the club in total and didn’t win a single piece of silverware.
Roma have started the Serie A campaign with consecutive draws against Genoa and Lazio and are in need of both more creativity in midfield and all-round depth. Mkhitaryan should provide both and presents a low-risk investment for a club hoping to contend for a UEFA Champions League ticket.
He’ll battle Justin Kluivert and Cengiz Under for a spot in the starting XI. Both are exceptional talents, but consistency has been an issue for the two youngsters.
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