Henrikh Mkhitaryan has admitted he was ‘surprised’ to leave Arsenal but knew he had to make the move to Roma.
The Armenian forward joined the Gunners from Manchester United in 2018 in a £30m deal that saw Alexis Sánchez go the other way.
His time at Arsenal proved to be something of a mixed bag, with nine goals and 13 assists in 59 games in all competitions hardly shocking numbers.
However, he quickly became a focus of disappointment at the club, with many Arsenal fans believing they could and should be getting more from the forward.
That is why there were few who were surprised or disappointed to see him leave in the summer, with Serie A side Roma taking him on loan until the end of the season.
He’s struggled to find his best form in Italy too, managing three goals and one assist in 14 games so far, but says he knew he had to make the move because Arsenal started to treat him ‘differently’.
“It (the move) just happened,” SportBild report him saying to Vivaro News.
“I was also surprised when I got the call from my agent (Mino Raiola) who advised me to move to Rome.
“I didn’t hesitate because I knew I would be more appreciated by Roma than by Arsenal at the time.
“At the beginning of the season they made promises to me, but after two or three weeks everything was different. They treated me differently.”
