Dortmund chief confirms improved Manchester United offer for Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The ongoing saga linking Borussia Dortmund star midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Manchester United will come to an end, with the Premier League outfit set to come out victorious very soon.
Jose Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford after the Red Devils executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward showed the Dutchman the exit door just days after he guided United to FA Cup success.
Since the former Chelsea manager took charge, United completed a deal for Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly as the centre-back was signed from Villarreal. Since then, Mourinho has set his sights on landing Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Armenian international has one year left on his contract and Dortmund were initially reluctant in letting their star player leave the Signal Iduna Park. At one point, they were even willing to let the 27-year-old leave on a free transfer after the end of the next season.
However, Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke confirmed United have tabled an improved offer and a deal is likely to be concluded before the Bundesliga side start their pre-season training next Monday.
“The situation is now different. Manchester have made a much improved offer. In situations like this there are always a lot of different things to consider and in the end at one point we have to make a decision," The Guardian reported Watzke as saying.
“And as we are back in training on Monday we will decide at the weekend. I have contacted the relevant people and we will weigh things up at the weekend. And then the board will make the decision, definitely at the weekend.”
This comes a day after Watzke confirmed that Mkhitaryan could leave Dortmund if economical, strategic and sporting perspectives of the transfer are met. He even admitted that losing one of the prized assets was a difficult situation for the club
"There are three perspectives with every transfer: An economical, a strategic and a sporting. If the economical side becomes overwhelming, it might happen that you make a different decision in the end," Watzke told Kicker.
"We not only need to discuss it with [sporting director] Michael Zorc and [coach] Thomas Tuchel, but also with the bodies. It is a difficult decision."
With Mkhitaryan set to join United, he will be the third high-profile departure from Dortmund this summer. The midfielder will follow Ilkay Gundogan and Mats Hummels, who joined Manchester City and Bayern Munich respectively.