Mkhitaryan urged to extend Roma loan

Cape Town - Edin Dzeko has made it clear he wants Arsenal loanee Henrikh Mkhitaryan to stay with him at Roma on a permanent basis.

The Arsenal play-maker joined Roma on loan on deadline day in Europe at the start of the month after being told by Gunners boss Unai Emery he would not feature regularly in the current campaign, while he admitted he was unhappy in north London.

The former Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United man has impressed so far in Italy with a goal on his first appearance in the win over Sassuolo on Sunday.

Mkhitaryan is only currently set to stay in the Eternal City until the end of the season but Dzeko has opened the door for a longer stay after admitting he is enjoying playing alongside the Armenia international.

“After we played for our national teams and he scored two goals against us I told him ‘my friend, next games you have to score for Roma as well!” Dzeko said.

“He’s a great pro. I remember him also from Borussia Dortmund times and he will be a big player for us. Hopefully, he can stay a long time here. He will see that we are playing football here and immediately he scored a goal so hopefully, he can have more goals and a lot of assists for us.”

Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal in January 2018 in the deal which saw Alexis Sanchez move to Old Trafford and contributed nine goals and 13 assists from 59 appearances but his game-time has been limited under Emery at the Emirates.

Last season, the 30-year-old made just 19 Premier League starts under the Spaniard, although he was absent for around six weeks due to a metatarsal fracture in the winter.

The winger is expected to feature in Roma’s Serie A clash this weekend at Bologna when they aim to extend their unbeaten start to the campaign to four games.

- TeamTalk Media