Arsenal Make Transfer Breakthrough as Gunners Agree Personal Terms With Aubameyang & Mkhitaryan
Arsenal are growing increasingly confident of securing the signing of both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his former Borussia Dortmund teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with both players agreeing personal terms with the North London outfit, according to Goal.
With Alexis Sanchez looking certain to be heading to Manchester United, with the Chilean's contract at the Emirates Stadium expiring in the summer, Arsene Wenger is looking to reinforce his squad and assure they are still capable of challenging for the top four.
Am told Mkhitaryan yet to undergo #afc medical. Plus, he's been pictured at #mufc's training ground this morning so debut v Palace extremely unlikely. Means Sanchez will have to wait for #mufc debut too. Deal will happen, but source close to it says it may not happen today.
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) January 19, 2018
The deal for Mkhitaryan will see Sanchez heading in the opposite direction as part of the deal, and reports suggest that after long negotiations with the his agent Mino Raiola, the Armenian will join the Gunners on a deal that will see him become one of their highest earners.
Wenger has been a long-term admirer of Mkhitaryan, with the Gunners boss attempting to sign the Armenian before he joined Manchester United ahead of the 2016/17 season. Now, with the midfielder having fallen out of favour with Jose Mourinho, Wenger will finally be able to sign someone he sees as a world class talent.
Meanhwhile, alongside talks to renew the contracts of Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil, Arsenal are also looking at bringing in Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in order to add reinforcements to their front line as summer signing Alexandre Lacazette struggles for form.
Aubameyang, who is valued at £55m by Dortmund, has been left out of the BVB squad for their previous two league fixtures and will not feature on Friday night as Die Schwarzgelben travel to the capital to face Hertha Berlin, with sporting director Michael Zorc calling the striker's mentality into question.
Zorc castigated Wenger after the Frenchman suggested Aubameyang would be a good fit at Arsenal during his press conference on Thursday, saying: "Auba trains in Dortmund, we have the impression that Aubameyang is not 100 per cent mentally focused. It's a difficult situation.
"We consider it disrespectful to speak about players from other clubs, we assume that Wenger has enough to do dealing with his own players."
While Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande may also be in the race for the Gabon international's signature, it is believed that Arsenal would be Aubameyang's preferred destination.