Why Mkhitaryan is desperate for Arsenal to let him move to Roma for £10m

To stay in Rome or not to stay in Rome – that, for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, is the question.

It seems as though the Arsenal man already has an answer. He joined Roma on loan just after the start of the season and is thought to have fallen in love with the city in his time there.

It's not that much of a surprise. His first child, Hamlet – named after Mkhitaryan's late father – was born there in the Mater Dei Roman clinic, weighing 3.46kg, earlier this month.

While that has been a blessing for both Mkhitaryan and his wife Isabella, his on-pitch performances have also served to rejuvenate a career that was stagnating.

The 31-year-old began this season on the back of an iffy spell after joining Arsenal in January 2018. Like Alexis Sanchez, who went the other way to Manchester United, he had not pulled up any trees.

He also struggled at United. This was a highly-coveted player signed from Borussia Dortmund, but he played just 24 games in his first season and was clearly surplus to requirements by the time he left.

Roma has been more of a success. There have been phases out of the team. He suffered a thigh injury that kept him on the sidelines for a while, yet his numbers have been fairly impressive.

Mkhitaryan has scored six goals in 13 games across the season, and after returning from his injury he has been crucial to Roma climbing up to fifth in the Serie A table.

A return of three goals from just four games has played a big part in that.

Now it is thought that he has told Arsenal that he would like to stay in Italy after a recent phone call.

His contract at the Emirates Stadium expires in the summer of 2021, which puts them in a disadvantageous position when it comes to negotiating any sale to Roma.

The Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport suggested that Roma do not want to spend more than €12million (£10m) on him, while Arsenal are not keen to let him go for less than €20m (£18m).

The issue for Mkhitaryan is that Roma's sporting director Gianluca Petrachi could be on the way out if magnate Dan Friedkin completes his deal for the club.

That would see negotiations reach a standstill and would mean Mkhitaryan would be likely to return to Arsenal in the summer, as it stands.

It would be a blow for the Armenian, who is not viewed as a key player at Arsenal. Compare and contrast that to Roma, where manager Paulo Fonseca sees him as crucial to his team.

He recently spoke about his difficulties in north London and says he is thriving under Fonseca, while he struggled to adapt to the tactics of former Gunners boss Unai Emery at Arsenal.

'When I was at Arsenal, I had different things asked from me by the coach, people were expecting different things from here,' he told The Times.

'The philosophy of Emery was different from Fonseca, but here I’m feeling much better because we’re playing better football and I think it matched me.

'I prefer Fonseca’s football because we’re playing very offensively, we’re trying to have the ball all the time here and of course I like this kind of game.'

The truth is that Arsenal will sanction his exit in the summer, but will need to find the best financial solution for themselves. He will hope that Roma offer that up.

Mkhitaryan recently commented in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport that he wants to play until the relatively advanced age of 37.

Where better for that than the Eternal City?