Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan departure helps everyone

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined AS Roma on a season-long loan deal. The Arsenal midfielder’s exit helps everyone involved, which is rare for a modern transfer.

It is rare in the world of business that a deal completely benefits every party involved. In one way or another, compromise must be made. And in football, this is especially true. Rarely do teams and players get exactly what they want from a transfer.

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However, on European deadline day, by sending Henrikh Mkhitaryan on a year-long loan to AS Roma, Arsenal may well have pulled off a deal that suits everybody involved. Roma get a player to help bolster their attacking options, Mkhitaryan is handed some regular playing time, and the Gunners offload £180,000 a week from their wage bill.

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From an Arsenal perspective, the deal makes a whole lot of sense. Mkhitaryan has been horribly poor since his arrival in a disastrous Alexis Sanchez swap that was detrimental to both Manchester United and the north London outfit and is earning a hugely substantial wage given that he held all the negotiating power when a contract was thrashed out during the Sanchez deal.

In this exit, they offload a wage to ease a stretched budget, which will provide them with greater room to reinvest in future acquisitions — this move may suggest that they are ready to make a push to sign a centre-half in January.

But more than just the financial advantages of the transfer, there are some serious footballing benefits here too, and not just because Mkhitaryan is rubbish.

As has been widely reported in the media on Monday, Unai Emery made this move in order to open up opportunities for other players, especially many of the younger wingers who are coming through the system.

While Mkhitaryan was floundering in the North London Derby, Reiss Nelson was sat on the bench, surely wondering what he had to do to play ahead of the Armenian. Gabriel Martinelli also arrived this summer, the Brazilian impressing in the preseason, while Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe will also be in and around the first team this season, the latter just returning from injury and specifically not being loaned out because of Mkhitaryan’s exit.

All in all, then, Arsenal have got rid of a player that is not very good, offloaded a wage that is extremely high, and opened up playing time for far higher-ceiling youngsters. Add in the benefits for Roma and Mkhitaryan, and this seems almost like the perfect deal.

The Mkhitaryan experiment never really looked like it might work. He lacked confidence, pace and comfort. And now he is out the door, and his exit helps everyone involved.