Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan should be begging to be a Gunner

Arsenal are supposedly looking to wrap up Henrikh Mkitaryan, with the Armenian hesitating over the move, but shouldn’t he be begging for the move?

Arsenal are supposedly pretty adamant that they get a player in return from Manchester United if they are to give moneybags Alexis Sanchez to them, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan‘s name has been tossed around.

While I’m still on the fence about the deal, anonymous reports that Mkhitaryan isn’t sure about the move struck me as either incredibly false or erroneous on the Armenian’s part. And it’s pretty simple to see why.

Arsenal were in the running when Mkhitaryan first moved to United, but they paid him the big bucks, cause that’s what they do, and he chose Manchester.

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Now, though, Mkhitaryan is hitting the prime of his career at 26 and he is buried on the United roster. He yet again wasn’t even included in the 18 man matchday roster against Stoke City. Which means that on the year, after starting out incredibly fast with a goal and five assists, Mkhitaryan still has that tally and only 931 minutes of Premier League play.

He hasn’t played a full 90 minutes since the Champions League back in October and he is playing for the bus driver, Jose Mourinho. And that’s when he plays at all.

At Arsenal, he would be coming to a team that has often shared a lot of similarities with his old club Borussia Dortmund. They reward the creative and encourage the attack far more than keeping a clean sheet.

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He would be playing alongside the German maestro Mesut Ozil, who was able to notch 19 assists with this Arsenal attack.

Mkhitaryan’s big time season at Dortmund saw him rake in 15 assists. He hasn’t even come close to that since joining United. The move has had the makings of a mistake on his part, and now that he isn’t even getting a chance to prove himself, that is coming out more than ever.

The only possible thing that he wouldn’t potentially find as an upgrade at Arsenal is the pay. He would probably have to take a pay cut. But damn, is it really such a determining factor for a player that he would sacrifice playing time and a legacy as a footballer in order to make more money? Maybe I’m the blind one here, but that seems so backwards.

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I may not be completely sold on Mkhitaryan being the solution. But at the very least I know that Arsenal will allow him to cultivate his talents in a much more constructive way than United.