Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined AS Roma on a permanent deal after terminating his contract with Arsenal by mutual consent. Armenia player’s Arsenal contract was due to expire in summer 2021 before he terminated it.

The 31-year-old Armenia midfielder spent the 2019/21 football season on loan with Italian side AS Roma. He was fairly impressive for them, as he scored nine goals in 22 Serie A appearances as Roma finished in fifth-place on the Italian League table.

Mkhitaryan did not exactly have a great time in north London. The gifted playmaker didn’t feature much for the Gunners, and also did not live up to his expectations. He joined the north London club in 2018 in a swap deal with Manchester United for Alexis Sanchez, and his Arsenal contract had been set to expire in the summer of 2021.

Although Mkhitaryan mainly plays as an attacking midfielder, he can also play as a wide midfielder. He began his senior career win Pyunik in Armenia and won four Armenian Premier League titles with them. He moved to Metalurh Donetsk in 2009, and join Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010.

In his time at Shakhtar, Mkhitaryan broke the league’s goalscoring record in the 2012/13 season. After also winning three domestic doubles with Shakhtar, he secured a move to Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund for a then club-record fee of €27.5 million, which made him the most expensive Armenian player of all time.

In Dortmund, Henrikh Mkhitaryan won a DFL-Supercup in 2014, and in 2015 provided the most assists in the Bundesliga season, with 15. His fine form prompted a move to Manchester United for €34.3 million. In doing so, he became the first Armenian to play in the Premier League. There, he won the FA Community Shield and scored the winner to win the UEFA Europa League title. Finally, he moved to Arsenal, then landed in AS Roma.

Mkhitaryan scored nine goals in 59 appearances for Arsenal and is part of players to leave the Emirates this summer as Mikel Arteta aims to trim his squad.

Written by: Collins Nwokolo