Henrikh Mkhitaryan has not declared that his “time in London is over”, says Mino Raiola, with the Arsenal midfielder’s representative branding the circulation of such comments “fake news”.
The Armenia international is currently out of sight at Emirates Stadium, as he takes in a loan spell at Roma, but he is not out of mind.
With a year left to run on his contract with the Gunners, no decision on his long-term future has been taken as yet.
He was deemed surplus to requirements at the Premier League giants by Unai Emery, with a season-long loan switch to Italy agreed ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.
Mikel Arteta is now calling the shots at Arsenal and is yet to determine who will form part of his plans heading forward.
The expectation is that Mkhitaryan will be allowed to secure a permanent transfer if a buyer can be found.
Roma would be willing to enter into discussions, but Raiola is eager to point out that no agreements have been reached as yet.
With that in mind, he has refuted reports from Corriere dello Sport in which his client was quoted as saying: “My time in London is over. I hope you manage to find an agreement with Rome because my desire is to stay.”
Taking to social media to offer his response, Raiola said: “Mkhitaryan did not send any message to Arsenal. Specially in times like these, fake news are completely unacceptable.”
While Arsenal have yet to sanction an exit for a player they acquired from Manchester United in January 2018, Roma have made it clear that they would like to do a deal.
Paulo Fonseca, head coach of the Serie A giants, is hoping that he will be given the chance to keep a the Armenian on his books.
He told Great Football in April: “I’ve already said it and I’ll say it again: I want Mkhitaryan to stay. Henrikh also wants to stay
“However, it must be said that everything is on pause right now.
“We still need to talk to Arsenal. I want to keep working with him. He’s a great player and a great man.”