Mkhitaryan arrives ahead of expected Roma loan

Arsenal winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan has arrived in Rome ahead of his mooted loan move to Roma.

The Armenia international joined in January 2018 as part of the infamous swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez move to Manchester United, but he has generally underwhelmed in London.

Mkhitaryan, 30, made only 19 starts in the Premier League last season and struggled to convince Unai Emery he was worthy of more regular appearances.

Although he made a substitute appearance in Sunday’s north London derby draw with Tottenham, Arsenal have opted to let the midfielder depart.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has arrived in Rome…  pic.twitter.com/APvE8igkMp

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) September 2, 2019

Much like Sanchez, who has left United on loan for Inter, Mkhitaryan’s next challenge will also be in Serie A, having arrived at Rome airport.

Mkhitaryan was photographed with a Roma scarf upon his arrival and he will become the club’s second loan acquisition from the Premier League in the last week, as he links up with former United team-mate Chris Smalling.

Roma will hope Mkhitaryan can finally rediscover the form he showed at Borussia Dortmund, when he scored 11 goals and provided a league-high 15 assists in the 2015-16 Bundesliga campaign.

12 – No other Arsenal player has provided more assists than Henrikh #Mkhitaryan (12) in all competitions since he joined the club in January 2018, level to Lacazette and Iwobi. Fantasy. pic.twitter.com/G5xemE2szZ

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) September 2, 2019