Henrikh Mkhitaryan | BVB confirm transfer

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Do you want him for the reported €38m?

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Dortmund are just playing hard to get. There is no way on gods green earth they will refuse to sell him this summer, only to allow him to leave on a free the following summer. I find it extremely hard to believe that a financially restricted football club, such as Dortmund, would throw away upwards of £35 million purely on the basis of principle. The board simply won't allow that to happen.

Jose wants him, apparently, and the board have the funds to make the purchase, stands to reason that he will be a United player come the end of the summer.
 
In my eyes - Mhkytarian has a pricetag and is not "Not for sale". If the price is high enough Dortmund will sell.
 
Red Bug said:
This lad is the real deal and gettable (is that a word?)

We have no divine right to sign the likes of Neymar and co. We finished 5th last season playing dreadful football.

Mourinho will fire us back to the top but let's be realistic along the way. This isn't Football Manager or FIFA Career Mode, this is the real life - not fantasy.
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For the record I signed Mkhitaryan for United at start of last season in Football Manager and he ended up with most assists in league and runner up for World Player of the Year.
Temperamental though - rested him for 2 games and he wanted a chat to demand more first team opportunities...
 
Footyislife said:
Some peope are so erratic in their judging of players. Kante apparently is world class for 1 season of decent play. Mkhitaryan has a ridiculous season with 11 goals and 20 assists in 31 games in the Bundesliga. How is that not superstar level by comparison? He's two footed, got a cannon of a shot, can dribble, moves well, and can pass/cross well. Would instantly be our best winger even over Martial. For where the club is right now he'd be a great addition as he genuinely wants to join our club and is available for cheap. We aren't going to get the best wingers in the world as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, PSG, and even MCFC have more pull with players right now.

If you are averaging 1 goal or assist every 83 minutes how do you disappear from games or get labeled as inconsistent? I bet i can count with one hand how many players across the big leagues average a goal or assist every 83 mins. Even Mahrez couldn't. Don't delude yourselves, he' not a big flashy name but he performs. Inconsistency is expected out of the winger as they have to take the most risks and are under the most pressure to create. Sometimes you get tough match-ups or the opposition tactics are aimed at neutralizing a player. Averaged 10 and 10 in the last decent season Klopp had. 27 is a player entering his prime and you get 4-5 solid seasons. Dortmund doesn't want him to leave for a reason. I hope we can work something out as he'd be the injection our offense needs. Someone's got to feed Zlatan.
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Good post. I do think we have more pulling power than you think though. You going to see that this summer.
 
Random Task said:
Dortmund are just playing hard to get. There is no way on gods green earth they will refuse to sell him this summer, only to allow him to leave on a free the following summer. I find it extremely hard to believe that a financially restricted football club, such as Dortmund, would throw away upwards of £35 million purely on the basis of principle. The board simply won't allow that to happen.

Jose wants him, apparently, and the board have the funds to make the purchase, stands to reason that he will be a United player come the end of the summer.
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You realize they've done it before don't you?
 
7even said:
This is not personal against you but my view in general regarding some of the comments in this thread.

Lots of knowledge about football, players, stats and so on but less about running a club/company and standard negotiating routine.

Dortmund will officially refuse to sell Mhkitaryan until they sell him. You can't handle it another way.

Talks about principles and take a hard stance works in theory but any experienced negotiater, depending on your bargaining position, in the end has to be pragmatic.

In this case there are four parties involved. The only one who talks are the players agent and Watzke.

If Dortmund had made up their mind then it would be a better option for Watzke to be quit. Let Raiola talk all he wants.

There are no guaranties but I would be very surprised if Dortmund let this end up in tears. Mino Raiola will not stop talking to the media. Mhkitaryan has expressed his desire, he will lose face and end up very disappointed if the deal collapse. Other Dortmunds players will take notice. Sell their captain to the arch enemy but refuse another the opportunity of his life because of principles. Not a good strategy.

I like Dortmund! A great club doing wonder with a restricted budget, good management and they have a fantastic stadium with a great atmosphere. There is nothing to dislike.

But in this case they are in a lose and lose situation if they don't sell. They are not the first and not the last.
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I see your points here, and of course, from a common sense point of view, it makes sense. But haven't Dortmund history in this department? Of allowing contracts to run down, leaving a player to (inevitably) sign for Bayern free, rather than profit on them elsewhere?
 
Von Mistelroum said:
I see your points here, and of course, from a common sense point of view, it makes sense. But haven't Dortmund history in this department? Of allowing contracts to run down, leaving a player to (inevitably) sign for Bayern free, rather than profit on them elsewhere?
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Well yeah, Lewendowski but then the club he wanted to join a year earlier was Bayern, so they were stuck betweeen a rock and a hard place.

It's a big difference now and surely sanity will prevaile, let him join United now and make 30m, or open up the possibility of him signing a free contract with Bayern in Jan.

No brainer really, but then the people running Dortmund don't appear the smartest.
 
Judas said:
When did this place start turning their noses up at players in their prime? "He's 26/27? do not want!" it's so odd.

If they're not fresh out of the womb, apparently, not worth having.
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Same reason why quite a few didn't want Mourinho. Juice > Success by their measure. Probably the FM/FIFA playing crowds who only like wonderkids.
 
7even said:
This is not personal against you but my view in general regarding some of the comments in this thread.

Lots of knowledge about football, players, stats and so on but less about running a club/company and standard negotiating routine.

Dortmund will officially refuse to sell Mhkitaryan until they sell him. You can't handle it another way.

Talks about principles and take a hard stance works in theory but any experienced negotiater, depending on your bargaining position, in the end has to be pragmatic.

In this case there are four parties involved. The only one who talks are the players agent and Watzke.

If Dortmund had made up their mind then it would be a better option for Watzke to be quit. Let Raiola talk all he wants.

There are no guaranties but I would be very surprised if Dortmund let this end up in tears. Mino Raiola will not stop talking to the media. Mhkitaryan has expressed his desire, he will lose face and end up very disappointed if the deal collapse. Other Dortmunds players will take notice. Sell their captain to the arch enemy but refuse another the opportunity of his life because of principles. Not a good strategy.

I like Dortmund! A great club doing wonder with a restricted budget, good management and they have a fantastic stadium with a great atmosphere. There is nothing to dislike.

But in this case they are in a lose and lose situation if they don't sell. They are not the first and not the last.
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Finally a post that talks sense!
 
7even said:
This is not personal against you but my view in general regarding some of the comments in this thread.

Lots of knowledge about football, players, stats and so on but less about running a club/company and standard negotiating routine.

Dortmund will officially refuse to sell Mhkitaryan until they sell him. You can't handle it another way.

Talks about principles and take a hard stance works in theory but any experienced negotiater, depending on your bargaining position, in the end has to be pragmatic.

In this case there are four parties involved. The only one who talks are the players agent and Watzke.

If Dortmund had made up their mind then it would be a better option for Watzke to be quit. Let Raiola talk all he wants.

There are no guaranties but I would be very surprised if Dortmund let this end up in tears. Mino Raiola will not stop talking to the media. Mhkitaryan has expressed his desire, he will lose face and end up very disappointed if the deal collapse. Other Dortmunds players will take notice. Sell their captain to the arch enemy but refuse another the opportunity of his life because of principles. Not a good strategy.

I like Dortmund! A great club doing wonder with a restricted budget, good management and they have a fantastic stadium with a great atmosphere. There is nothing to dislike.

But in this case they are in a lose and lose situation if they don't sell. They are not the first and not the last.
Click to expand...

While I agree with most of your post I think you don't get Dortmund's perspective. This is not a matter of principle, it's a strategical question. They are more reluctant to sell precisely because Hummels and to a lesser extend Gündogan already left. They bought a lot of players for the future, now they are looking to keep a certain level of short term stability.
They would need to buy a high quality replacement for Mkhitaryan, someone who has a very good chance of settling in quick and being a leading player right away.
Watzke strikes me as a very pragmatic man, so I assume if they find a suitable replacement for Mkhitaryan and get an offer that can finance that player then they will be open towards a move, if not he will probably stay.
 
Thing is, if Dortmund let him leave, even for big money, who could they get that could replace him.
They sold Hummels and Gündogan this summer, they have money. But they need to be able to stay the second force in German football if they want to keep up their development as a club.

They can't go from
Mkhitaryan, Gündogan, Hummels
to
Dembele/Mor, Rode/Merino, Barta
in a single transfer window and think this will keep them being a CL side. There's no way they'd have a chance at the Bundesliga title like this.

So who could they possibly buy to replace Mkhitaryan? The market seems a bit dead atm.
 
Von Mistelroum said:
I see your points here, and of course, from a common sense point of view, it makes sense. But haven't Dortmund history in this department? Of allowing contracts to run down, leaving a player to (inevitably) sign for Bayern free, rather than profit on them elsewhere?
Click to expand...
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Well yeah, Lewendowski but then the club he wanted to join a year earlier was Bayern, so they were stuck betweeen a rock and a hard place.

It's a big difference now and surely sanity will prevaile, let him join United now and make 30m, or open up the possibility of him signing a free contract with Bayern in Jan.

No brainer really, but then the people running Dortmund don't appear the smartest.
Click to expand...
Bayern actually never made a bid for Lewandowski. It's still a mystery if Bayern had any intention of trying to negotiate for him. The relationship was still sour from e Gotze sale. The only suitable precedents to the Mkhitaryan situation are Shinji, Sahin, Gundogan and Hummels. All of them were sold.
 
do.ob said:
Watzke strikes me as a very pragmatic man, so I assume if they find a suitable replacement for Mkhitaryan and get an offer that can finance that player then they will be open towards a move, if not he will probably stay.
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If he was pragmatic he would sell the unhappy player with one year on his contract for as much as possible before then end of this month. That gives him two months to find a suitable replacement.

Keeping any unhappy player is always a gamble. There is almost always a drop off in performance and they can be disruptive in the dressing room. Add to the agent of this player. If he had 4 years on his contract then the player can be handled more easily but with one year the player holds all the aces.

Even without Mkhitaryan, Hummels and Gundogan, Dortmund should still be the second best team in Germany, which is the best they can realistically hope for right now.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
If he was pragmatic he would sell the unhappy player with one year on his contract for as much as possible before then end of this month. That gives him two months to find a suitable replacement.

Keeping any unhappy player is always a gamble. There is almost always a drop off in performance and they can be disruptive in the dressing room. Add to the agent of this player. If he had 4 years on his contract then the player can be handled more easily but with one year the player holds all the aces.

Even without Mkhitaryan, Hummels and Gundogan, Dortmund should still be the second best team in Germany, which is the best they can realistically hope for right now.
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He will only sell if the money is good, he isn't going to sell him for pocket change.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
If he was pragmatic he would sell the unhappy player with one year on his contract for as much as possible before then end of this month. That gives him two months to find a suitable replacement.

Keeping any unhappy player is always a gamble. There is almost always a drop off in performance and they can be disruptive in the dressing room. Add to the agent of this player. If he had 4 years on his contract then the player can be handled more easily but with one year the player holds all the aces.

Even without Mkhitaryan, Hummels and Gundogan, Dortmund should still be the second best team in Germany, which is the best they can realistically hope for right now.
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What's pragmatic about bending over because Raiola crys a bit to the press and accepting the first offer you get? Even if they were desperate to sell him it would make sense to send some signals of resistance first.
 
I love Dortmund and their fans making a stand now.
I guess it's not Bayern that's involved so the gloves are off.
 
SwansonsTache said:
Dortmund should take a breather and think about how this will go if they dont sell:

1) January comes - Targaryan signs for Bayern on a free
2) Dortmund misses out on 35m euro minimum
3) Dortmund has once again strengthened their domestic rival
4) The saga of Dortmund being Bayerns feeding club continues, diminishing both their brand, club and title chances
5) Players at Dortmund takes notice
6) Rinse and repeat for the next player
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Bayern will be looking for a higher caliber of player in truth. It's more likely that they play hard ball this Summer (forcing us to pay over €35m) and if we don't meet the price he signs a pre-contract with us in January.

If the player wants to join United without CL Football and before the TV money has come through, I'm sure he'll still want to in 6 months when we are likely to be in a stronger position.
 
do.ob said:
What's pragmatic about bending over because Raiola crys a bit to the press and accepting the first offer you get? Even if they were desperate to sell him it would make sense to send some signals of resistance first.
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The agent is just a further complicating factor.

The best case scenario I can think of is when Ronaldo wanted to leave us for Madrid but agreed to stay for one more year without kicking up a fuss. He was still good but it was probably his least effective season of the last 10 years.

Worst case scenario, asshole agent involved too, was Tevez at Man City ended up going AWOL for about a third of the season.
 
cyberman said:
I love Dortmund and their fans making a stand now.
I guess it's not Bayern that's involved so the gloves are off.
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You and many other posters in this thread sound like spoilt children getting mad because daddy didn't get them their new toy straight away.
Dortmund sold precisely one player to Bayern, for close to a record fee with one year left on his contract.

Classical Mechanic said:
The agent is just a further complicating factor.

The best case scenario I can think of is when Ronaldo wanted to leave us for Madrid but agreed to stay for one more year without kicking up a fuss. He was still good but it was probably his least effective season of the last 10 years.

Worst case scenario, asshole agent involved too, was Tevez at Man City ended up going AWOL for about a third of the season.
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And who is going to sign Mkhitaryan for big money if he doesn't perform next season? He has not nearly shown the kind of consistency that would excuse a bad season, it's actually the opposite, his whole value comes from just one season.
 
do.ob said:
You and many other posters in this thread sound like spoilt children getting mad because daddy didn't get them their new toy straight away.
Dortmund sold precisely one player to Bayern, for close to a record fee with one year left on his contract.



And who is going to sign Mkhitaryan for big money if he doesn't perform next season? He has not nearly shown the kind of consistency that would excuse a bad season, it's actually the opposite, his whole value comes from just one season.
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He will be leaving on a free transfer so will get at least a £10m signing on fee from any number of clubs + a massive pay rise.
 
do.ob said:
And who is going to sign Mkhitaryan for big money if he doesn't perform next season? He has not nearly shown the kind of consistency that would excuse a bad season, it's actually the opposite, his whole value comes from just one season.
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I'd argue that it's unlikely that he can replicate last season's form consistently anyway. At least a slight drop from his individually by far best ever season is to be expected, certainly in terms of productivity.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
He will be leaving on a free transfer so will get at least a £10m signing on fee from any number of clubs + a massive pay rise.
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That's not true, not all the players have these sort of signing on fees, it's actually pretty rare and they are not fully paid, very often they are closer to loyalty fees too.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
He will be leaving on a free transfer so will get at least a £10m signing on fee from any number of clubs + a massive pay rise.
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He probably wont, unless he performs, that's my point. His last seasons were:
Mediocre - aweful - great. I don't think anyone is going to shower him with money if he adds another mediocre/aweful/AWOL season to that list. His current season will be treated as an anomaly and the offers he receives will be lowered accordingly.

Balu said:
I'd argue that it's unlikely that he can replicate last season's form consistently anyway. At least a slight drop from his individually by far best ever season is to be expected, certainly in terms of productivity.
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Yes, that doesn't seem unlikely.
 
7even said:
This is not personal against you but my view in general regarding some of the comments in this thread.

Lots of knowledge about football, players, stats and so on but less about running a club/company and standard negotiating routine.

Dortmund will officially refuse to sell Mhkitaryan until they sell him. You can't handle it another way.

Talks about principles and take a hard stance works in theory but any experienced negotiater, depending on your bargaining position, in the end has to be pragmatic.

In this case there are four parties involved. The only one who talks are the players agent and Watzke.

If Dortmund had made up their mind then it would be a better option for Watzke to be quit. Let Raiola talk all he wants.

There are no guaranties but I would be very surprised if Dortmund let this end up in tears. Mino Raiola will not stop talking to the media. Mhkitaryan has expressed his desire, he will lose face and end up very disappointed if the deal collapse. Other Dortmunds players will take notice. Sell their captain to the arch enemy but refuse another the opportunity of his life because of principles. Not a good strategy.

I like Dortmund! A great club doing wonder with a restricted budget, good management and they have a fantastic stadium with a great atmosphere. There is nothing to dislike.

But in this case they are in a lose and lose situation if they don't sell. They are not the first and not the last.
Click to expand...
Very good post. Exactly what I was trying to tell Slig. Dortmund are in a situation where they can't really win. Comparing Miki and Lewandowski is not fair in that Lewandowski didn't push for a move the summer before, like Miki is doing now. If they force the player to stay, it'll have negative repercussions not only the player, but also on the rest of the team. A fee of around £25m is very fair considering the circumstances imo. And that would be enough for Dortmund (especially with their amazing scouting) to find a decent replacement.
 
finneh said:
Bayern will be looking for a higher caliber of player in truth. It's more likely that they play hard ball this Summer (forcing us to pay over €35m) and if we don't meet the price he signs a pre-contract with us in January.

If the player wants to join United without CL Football and before the TV money has come through, I'm sure he'll still want to in 6 months when we are likely to be in a stronger position.
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He won the Bundesliga player of the year above the whole Bayern team. If he is not their calibre then who is?

The only question mark is whether he could replicate it over another season, but that is the risk in all transfers.
 
He has his eye set on Man Utd. I think it'd be best for Dortmund to sell him and try to replace him.
 
do.ob said:
You and many other posters in this thread sound like spoilt children getting mad because daddy didn't get them their new toy straight away.
Dortmund sold precisely one player to Bayern, for close to a record fee with one year left on his contract.
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:lol: so true
 
Raoul said:
But few bigger ones like Dortmund. Think of how good they would be if they were able to actually retain their good players.
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But they can't because they are just below the actual "monsters". People make fun of them but it's the case for everyone that is not Chelsea, Barcelona, City, Bayern, United and Real Madrid. Dortmund, PSG, Atletico or Juventus are regularly negotiating with their players and on a mission to convince them to stay.
 
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