Liverpool Transfer News: Henrikh Mkhitaryan Attempts To Force Through Reds Move?
Mirror. The 24-year old failed to report for pre-season training this week which could be seen as a clear tactic to engineer a move to the Premier League. The midfielder is now facing a club fine. The Armenian is said to have grown frustrated that his proposed £23 million move to Anfield has not gone through yet, after the deal was held up because Shakhtar do not own all of his rights. He was set to fly out to Merseyside last week to undergo a medical before the complications arose, and remains keen on joining Brendan Rodgers side. But Shakhtar are unimpressed with their player's no-show and have warned he will be punished if he does not make an appearance. The club's CEO Sergei Palkin said:
Mkhitaryan did not come to the training session on Monday, but he had to. We do not know why. If he does not join the team in the coming days he will be fined. Concerning Mkhitaryans behaviour, I know that he does not have any problems with his team-mates and coaches and we have not heard from him about his intention to leave Shakhtar. All the questions about Mkhitaryans behaviour should be addressed to him.Shakhtar are incredibly reluctant to lose Mkhitaryan, who scored a Ukrainian league record 25 goals during the clubs title success last season. They are under no pressure to sell either because they are bankrolled by billionaire owner Rinat Akhmetov. But Palkin did say the club would be "willing to listen and consider all proposals" for his transfer. He continued:
As you know, there have been too many different conversations about Henrikh Mkhitaryan. But the situation has been strongly and artificially inflated. I can say that we have had no communication from any member of Liverpool. Henrikh is an important player in our team. Shakhtar want to keep him, but we are willing to listen and consider all proposals for his transfer. We have already parted with Willian and Fernandinho, but the club will not just sell players. Soon we will also strengthen ourselves with quality players, designed to replace those who have left.Liverpool yesterday completed the signing of Simon Mignolet from Sunderland, who became the club's fourth summer signing after the acquisitions of Kolo Toure from Manchester City, Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo and Sevilla's Luis Alberto.