Arsenal are opening talks with AS Roma over the permanent transfer of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, including a possible player-plus-cash deal.

VERONA, ITALY - DECEMBER 01: Henrikh Mkhitaryan of As Roma celebrates after scoring the 1-3 goal during the Serie A match between Hellas Verona and AS Roma at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on December 1, 2019, in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
VERONA, ITALY: Henrikh Mkhitaryan of AS Roma celebrates after scoring on December 1, 2019. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

John Cross of the Mirror reports that Arsenal are ‘ready to sell’ Mkhitaryan this summer to try and raise funds, and they’re in talks with AS Roma over a permanent move.

Roma are keen to bring the player in, but they reportedly aren’t even willing to pay £10m. The Serie A club would prefer a player-plus-cash deal, with negotiations still in the very early stages. Arsenal prefer cash, and will only do a deal for a fair price.

Rumours from Italy this week suggested Cengiz Under could form part of a swap. The media spent much of the 2018/19 season linking Under to Arsenal before the Gunners signed Nicolas Pepe instead.

That’s part of the reason that deal seems unlikely now. Arsenal would need to hand over around £10m as well as Mkhitaryan, to sign a right-winger on top of the £72m winger they already have. It doesn’t seem like the best use of funds.

Bringing £10m in isn’t an incredibly impressive deal either. However, it would free up a fair portion of the wage budget and at least slightly increase Arsenal’s available transfer funds. A deal is still a while away for the moment.