Arsenal: If Henrikh Mkhitaryan can be sold, it’s probably for the best
By Josh Sippie
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has never exactly “clicked” at Arsenal, but he still carries a certain value so, if he can be sold, it’s certainly for the best.
Arsenal‘s funds, for transfers and new contracts, are fudged up more than a wad of Christmas lights that have been tangled for decades. You need look no further than the embarrassing handling of the Aaron Ramsey contract situation to see that.
That such a crucial player can be allowed to walk for free, solely because they can’t pay him what he’s worth, is comical for a “top club” that is so clearly trying to undo so much of the fiscal fiasco that they have become.
That said, there are a number of ways they can start to undo the knot that the Wenger era left behind for the Emery era to handle. Some of the ways are pretty exciting – like selling Mesut Ozil and cutting those wages.
But there are other players that can be sold too, and I think that Unai Emery should go ruthlessly into the next couple of transfer windows and cut out any player that doesn’t immediately fit what he is trying to do.
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a superb player with some amazing qualities, but he’s never really clicked at the Emirates. He’s had a few fantastic matches, and he was starting to come around recently before his injury set him back, but if you look at the state of the club, and want to be brutally honest about it, Mkhitaryan is not a necessary presence.
There is talk already that he may be sold in the coming windows – probably by the summer – and I don’t think that there are any real drawbacks to selling the Armenian. He could, perhaps, fetch a £20m-ish fee, while also freeing up the £120,000 he is making in wages.
At this point, anybody who is being paid and isn’t consistently playing, should be seen as expendable, and can therefore be a fundraising tool to help the club afford players they will actually use and benefit from.
This will probably involve far more names exiting than entering, but that’s where youth players and slick signings can fill in the gaps. It’s building for the long-haul, but at this point, we’re doing that anyway.
Mkhitaryan looks like an Emery-esque player, but it just hasn’t worked out for him. He isn’t going to have a big chance to turn that around by the summer, so best be done with it.