You may recall that time, early on in the summer, when Henrikh Mkhitaryan was pushing for an exit from Arsenal, wanting to stay at AS Roma.
The Armenia international had been loaned to the Serie A side for the season, and despite injuries hindering his form, the playmaker had impressed when he played, leading to the Italians’ desire to keep him.
In the end, instead of faffing over a new loan or a low transfer fee, it was decided the best course of action was to free Mkhitaryan from his contract and let him go where he wanted.
That was AS Roma, where he’s enjoyed a good start to the season; so much so, in fact, that there’s already talk of his contract being extended by another year using the clause in his current contract.
Corriere dello Sport look at the situation on Monday and reveal, in turn, how badly Mkhitaryan wanted to get away from Arsenal, where he had been ‘dismissed as redundant’, which ‘he didn’t like’.
Giving up a big chunk of his wages, the former Manchester United man took a ‘business risk’ of accepting a ‘low fixed part of the salary’ of around €2.5m, which can be increased with a number of bonuses all based on performances.
For example, he’ll get an extra million euros if he gets 10 goals, and should he also garner 10 assists, that’s another million.
As Corriere says, ‘a lot depends on him’, which is a behaviour Roma ‘have greatly appreciated’, and one that shows a player confident in his ability and willing to gamble on himself in the process.
