Raiola slams ‘fake news’ about transfer message from Arsenal outcast

The agent of Henrikh Mkhitaryan has denied that the Arsenal attacking midfielder has asked the club to lower their price for him.

Despite arriving at Manchester United with much promise in 2016, Mkhitaryan’s time in the Premier League was not a success – and Arsenal sent him out on loan to Roma this season, just 18 months after signing him.

The Armenia captain has struggled with injuries while in Italy, but has shown enough promise for Roma to consider a permanent deal once his loan expires at the end of the season.

The Serie A side are unlikely to be able to afford to keep Mkhitaryan at his current asking price of €20m, although reports earlier in the week suggested that the 31-year-old had sent a plea to his parent club to allow him to make his move permanent for around half that amount.

However, his future appears to be undecided still, as his high-profile agent Mino Raiola has hit out at the reports.

“Mkhitaryan did not send any message to Arsenal,” he said. “[E]specially in times like these, fake news are [sic] completely unacceptable.”

Back in March, Mkhitaryan hinted that he would be open to a return to Arsenal if Mikel Arteta was to call on him – with the Spaniard having taken charge of the club after the Armenian’s exit had been arranged.

“I can’t say anything at the moment because the season is stopped, we don’t know when we’ll start playing again and what will happen in the summer,” said Mkhitaryan.

“Football changes so quickly. One day you’re here, the other you’re there. You never know what can happen and what will happen with you.”

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