Mkhitaryan Set for Arsenal Bow as Wenger Waits on Ozil

Date: 29 January 2018 - 20:39

News ID: ۴۹۴۴۹

LONDON (AFP) - Henrikh Mkhitaryan is poised to make his Arsenal debut when Arsene Wenger's side resume their Premier League campaign at bottom club Swansea City on Tuesday.
The Gunners head to South Wales boosted by their League Cup semi-final triumph over Chelsea and rested following a free weekend, a consequence of the holders' early exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Championship side Nottingham Forest.
Mkhitaryan's arrival from Manchester United also means Wenger's players have been able to prepare for the game without the sideshow caused by Alexis Sanchez's protracted departure from the Emirates Stadium.
The swap deal that saw Sanchez and Mkhitaryan change clubs has drawn a line under a saga that was threatening to destabilise the second half of Arsenal's season.
But with Sanchez gone, Wenger hopes he can rebuild his side around the axis of Armenian playmaker Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil.
The extent to which that partnership can flourish will depend on whether Ozil opts to stay at Arsenal beyond the end of his current contract which expires at the end of this season.
*******Henrikh Mkhitaryan joins Arsenal after a swap that sent Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United, a saga that was threatening to destabilize the second half of Arsenal's season