Henrikh Mkhitaryan won't extend Borussia Dortmund deal – or leave this summer

A few weeks ago, there was some rumbling that Arsenal could be after Borussia Dortmund's star midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan. He was possibly interested in coming. Dortmund were possibly interested in selling. Arsenal were possibly interested.

Well, according to quotes from BVB CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and Mkhitaryan's agent Mino Raiola, that could all be going up in smoke already.

#BVB Boss Watzke confirmed in Bild that Mkhitaryan will not extend his contract. https://t.co/oeLStwoG92

— Stefan Buczko (@bvbawesome) June 14, 2016

Raiola says Mkhitaryan was promised he could leave this summer but has now been told he should go for free in a year https://t.co/unzD2FdPSy

— Lewis (@LGAmbrose) June 14, 2016

Now, all that doesn't guarantee that Mkhitaryan won't move this summer. It could be posturing, it could be Raiola trying to make something happen. If they really want to move now, the way to do it would probably be to make the situation untenable and force a sale (and that's not something I'd put past any agent). But it's not particularly encouraging, especially after a week or so of silence. Not for Dortmund certainly, and not for Arsenal fans who wanted Mkhitaryan.

I guess we'll see if Raiola is able to force the hands of Watzke and Thomas Tuchel. There's a lot of summer left, after all.