Henrikh Mkhitaryan has always been a player of great interest for The Reds. He’s not just a player with a name that’s difficult to spell. He’s a footballer who’s genuinely worth keeping tabs on.
After all, there was a period of time about two years ago when you couldn’t avoid all the sports columns linking Liverpool with a move for the Armenian. As you may have guessed, Brendan Rodgers opted against the move (which struck me as a shame at the time). Mkhitaryan ended up moving to Borussia Dortmund. He hasn’t looked back since.
It’s easy to see why The Reds were interested. In his final season with Shakhtar Donetsk, he managed to find the back of the net 29 times in 42 games. That’s a sensational return for a midfielder. Most strikers would love to post those kind of figures.
Now it looks like he’s ready for the next stage in his career. Here’s what his agent, Mino Raiola had to say about his charge’s situation:
‘Henrikh wants to leave Dortmund at the end of the season. We will have to wait and see what we can do.’
Those comments are fairly definitive. The Armenian ace has only been with Borussia Dortmund for 18 months or so. That’s a relatively short-period of time for a footballer to be at a club.
What’s more, his impact this year has been negligible. He’s played 19 games and has only scored 1 goal. Given his previous record, this is fairly poor stuff. His form is directly contributing to Dortmund’s slide down the Bundesliga table. Perhaps his heart’s not in it any more?
The Metro suggests that Raiola’s comments have handed Liverpool (and Arsenal, who are also interested) a huge boost. Despite his current form, he’s still a player worth chasing. With that in mind, the time looks right for Brendan Rodgers to pull off another one of his bargain deals.
With him and Philippe Coutinho running the midfield next year, The Reds will be an entirely different kettle of fish. Roll on next summer.
What’s your take? Could Liverpool finally be about to get their hands on Henrikh Mkhitaryan?
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Rodgers did not opt against it as stated. The player chose Dortmund because we could not offer champions league football at the time