Manchester United have just about given up on Henrikh Mkhitaryan and are willing to sell the Armenian forward after his struggled to nail down any consistency or a spot in Jose Mourinho’s team, according to the Independent.
A return to Borussia Dortmund seem to be the most likely destination, with the Bundesliga side reportedly interested in bring the 28-year old back to the Westfalenstadion. A move that would undoubtedly favour all parties.
Dortmund have a good record of resigning former stars. Peter Stoger’s midfield currently consists of Nuri Sahin and Shinji Kagawa - two players that left for bigger clubs only to return years later - however Mkhitaryan could potentially have a far larger impact upon any potential return.
Although the Armenian international hasn’t looked his best since leaving Germany almost two years ago, there’s no doubt that he could quickly settle back in on either wing and return to scoring and setting up goals for the Bundesliga side. And that’s exactly what this team needs right now.
The current goalscoring charts show Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on 21 goals this season, yet his closest competitor in the Dortmund squad is Maximillian Phillip on a lowly six. Similarly, Andriy Yarmalenko has just three goals from 13 Bundesliga games and wonderkid, Christian Pulisic, has amassed just four from 22 appearances.
Mkhitaryan bagged 23 and 32 assists in 52 games for Dortmund in the season before he left for Man Utd and even half that amount would provide a notable spark in Stoger’s attack. Aubameyang needs another goalscorer to share the load and in this discount-priced Mkhitaryan Dortmund would struggle to find a better option at this point in the season.
On a less tangible level, Mkhitaryan would also bring a degree of leadership that also seems to allude this Dortmund team at the moment. Marco Reus is perpetually injured, Mats Hummels has left and Aubameyang has hardly led by example through his behaviour this season.
Even Mario Gotze, arguably one of the few, redeeming performers for Dortmund this season, was unfortunately struck down by an ankle injury and won’t be back on the training pitch until late January at the earliest.
Indeed, Dortmund’s troubles this season can undoubtedly be put down to poor coaching or tactics but a more discrete issue may simply be the lack of qualified, experienced players that can guide the team forward.
Sure, Sahin, Kagawa, Marcel Schmelzer & Co. have all won titles but this team needs world class players that can frighten opponents and galvanise teammates. None of those players can do that. Mkhitaryan, if he can find the form that made him special not so long ago, is exactly the kind of player that can. And that could be a real gamechanger for this side.
