Dzeko hopes Mkhitaryan stays at Roma after goalscoring debut

Edin Dzeko said he hopes Henrikh Mkhitaryan remains at Roma for a “long time” after his goalscoring debut for the Serie A side.

Mkhitaryan arrived in the Italian capital on a season-long loan from Premier League outfit Arsenal before the transfer window closed in Europe.

And Mkhitaryan’s first appearance for Roma yielded a goal in the 22nd minute as the Giallorossi beat visitors Sassuolo 4-2 on Sunday.

Dzeko, who was also on the scoresheet at Stadio Olimpico, hailed his new team-mate post-match.

First Armenian to…

 Play for Roma
 Score for Roma
 Score in Serie A

What a start, @HenrikhMkh! #ASRoma pic.twitter.com/5btntaVsSZ

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) September 15, 2019

“I expect it from him. I know him as a great player, and he is a very good addition to our attacking team who wants to play football,” Dzeko said.

“I am 100 per cent sure he is going to be a big help for us. I was definitely happy to see this transfer happen.

“After we played for our national teams and he scored two goals against us I told him ‘my friend, next games you have to score for Roma as well!’

“He’s a great pro. I remember him also from Borussia Dortmund times and he will be a big player for us. Hopefully, he can stay a long time here.

“Hopefully he will [stay]. He will see that we are playing football here and immediately he scored a goal so hopefully, he can have more goals and a lot of assists for us.”

Roma are unbeaten after three games with new head coach Paulo Fonseca at the helm – the club managing one win and two draws to be four points behind leaders Inter.