Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved to Arsenal as part of a swap deal from Manchester United last year but earlier this week, the Armenian moved out of the Emirates.
The North London club have confirmed that Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined AS Roma on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy at the end of the 2019-20 season(unconfirmed reports).
Mkhitaryan featured in 25 Premier League games last season and managed to score 6 goals and provide 4 assists. But unfortunately, his style of play did not particularly befit with Unai Emery’s new tactics which is why the Armenian has been released by the club.
Arsenal have released an official statement which read: “Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined Serie A side AS Roma on loan for the rest of the season.
“Micki joined us in January 2018 from Manchester United and during his time with us, has made 59 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine goals. His first start for us was memorably marked with a hat-trick of assists in the 5-1 win over Everton in February 2018.
“Micki is a history maker for his national team. He is Armenia’s all-time top goalscorer, scoring 27 goals from his 83 international matches and has been named Armenian Footballer of the Year seven times since 2009.
“Everyone at Arsenal wishes Micki all the best for his season with Roma.
“The loan is subject to the completion of regulatory processes.”
And with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving out of Arsenal, Mesut Ozil might move up the pecking order during the current season.
Ozil like Mkhitaryan is a playmaker and is apt at playing as a link between the strikers and the midfielders as well as down the wings. And now with the Armenian moving out, Mesut Ozil should theoretically get more game time under Unai Emery.
Arsenal have also brought in Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe this summer who are more or less guaranteed first-team starters which means Mesut Ozil will be used mostly in the Europa League and the cup competitions.
While this might not the perfect career solution for Ozil but his situation has most certainly improved over the course of the summer.
And the exit of Henrikh Mkhitaryan also means Mesut Ozil will likely not be offloaded during the January transfer window since Unai Emery would want the German as a backup.
