Arsene Wenger has given his seal of approval to Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s looming move to Arsenal and believes the Armenian already ‘loves’ the club.
Mkhitaryan is on the verge of swapping Manchester United for the Emirates in a swap deal with Alexis Sanchez, though some critics – including Arsenal legend Ian Wright – suggested the trade was being forced on Arsenal.
But Wenger insists that Mkhitaryan would not be joining the Gunners unless he wanted to sign the attacker and is convinced he will be a worthy replacement for Sanchez.
Asked at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Crystal Palace if Mkhitaryan would come the other way in the Sanchez deal, he confirmed: ‘That is my understanding, yes.’
Probed further on whether he is a player he rates, he continued: ‘Yes of course. If [the deal] is a possibility then it is because I like the player.
‘Look, this would be an exchange of players and I think one will replace the other. We will still be in the transfer market after that.’
An interview Mkhitaryan gave back in 2009 recently surfaced in which he lauded Arsenal’s style and Wenger’s approach to the game, and the Frenchman believes his potential new recruit is already a fan of the club.
He continued: ‘We played many times against him when he was at Dortmund, so he is certainly appreciative of the quality of our games and the way we play football, so that’s why certainly he loves the club as well.’
It had been reported that Mkhitaryan was holding out for a massive, Sanchez-level salary to join Arsenal of around £300,000-a-week which could have caused the deal to collapse.
But Wenger played down the reports and does not expect to encounter any problems when agreeing terms, adding: ‘Wages will not be a problem.’
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