MANCHESTER UNITED have confirmed the signing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund.
By Rhys Turrell, Jeremy Cross and Alex Wood
SNAPPED UP: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
A deal has been close for the past few days after United agreed a deal with Borussia Dortmund.
Jose Mourinho confirmed yesterday that Mkhitaryan would be his third signing for the club.
Eric Bailly and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are already on board, and they've now been joined by the Armenia star.
WE TOLD YOU SO: Starsport revealed United's offer last month
Starsport exclusively revealed last month that United had upper their offer to ensure they got a deal over the line.
United had an initial offer of £18m rejected, but went back in after Mourinho made it clear to executive vice chairman Ed Woodward how desperate he was to sign him.
Woodward jetted to Monaco on Tuesday to meet Mkhitaryan's agent Mino Raiola and put the finishing touches to the deal.
The duo also held more talks about a possible world record £95m deal for Paul Pogba, with United confident of luring him back to Old Trafford after Euro 2016 is finished.
Mkhitaryan, who scored 23 goals in the Bundesliga last season, had just 12 months of his current deal remaining at Dortmund.
He refused to sign a new one after setting his heart on a move to Old Trafford and made it clear to the German outfit he wanted to leave.
Mkhitaryan joins for a fee understood to be around £28m - and has signed a four-year deal worth a £100,000-a-week with the option of another season on top.
Mkhitaryan said: "I am very proud to join Manchester United, this move is a dream come true for me.
Mourinho said: "Henrikh is a very talented footballer who has been in such prolific form for both his club and his country.
"He is a real team player with great skill, vision and also has a good eye for goal.
"I am delighted he has chosen to sign for United. I believe he will make an impact on the team very quickly as his style of play is suited to the Premier League.
"We are all looking forward to working with him."
STAR MAN: Mkhitaryan was voted the best player in Germany last season
Mkhitaryan captains Armenia and joined Dortmund in 2013 from Shakhtar Donetsk for £23.5m.
He bagged 18 goals and 25 assists last term for the German giants and was named the Bundesliga Players' player of the season.
Dortmund chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, said in a statement at the weekend: "Manchester (United) made us an enormously lucrative offer.
"Had we rejected it the player would have left in 2017 without a fee and we would have just delayed the issue for a year."
No comments:
Post a Comment