Henrikh Mkhitaryan‘s agent will reportedly still try and seal a deal to send his client to Manchester United this summer rather than keep him at Borussia Dortmund for another season.

Speaking to the BBC (h/t Goal.com’s Chris Davie), Mino Raiola declared his intention to make sure Mkhitaryan is playing his football at Old Trafford next season:

It would be a sin to stop talking.

I am a positive guy. If I wasn’t confident of reaching some kind of conclusion, I wouldn’t try

I am very proud Manchester United want him and the talks are being held in a good atmosphere, but at the moment Dortmund are still saying no.

Mkhitaryan has just one year remaining on his deal with Bundesliga side Dortmund, but Paul Hirst of the Times has stated the player knows where he wants to play next:

Yet German publication Bild (h/t Bleacher Report’s Clark Whitney) reported how Dortmund are determined not sell their gifted No. 10:

If Raiola can broker a deal, Mkhitaryan could be a very useful player for new United manager Jose Mourinho. As a classy playmaker, he thrives between the lines and can score and create goals.

Mourinho, often chided for his pragmatism, isn’t usually associated with flair players. Yet, in reality, the Portuguese coach has always made room for at least one creative hub.

Deco operated in the role for Porto, while Wesley Sneijder did the same job for Inter Milan. But it’s the way Mourinho used Mesut Ozil while at Real Madrid that offers a potential template for how he could make things work with Mkhitaryan.

Mourinho often deployed the languid schemer on the right but gave him the license to roam into the middle and dictate things as a provider in the final third. It’s the same role Mkhitaryan thrived in for Dortmund last season when the Armenian helped himself to 21 goals and 20 assists, per WhoScored.com.

Mkhitrayan could be the ideal preference to Juan Mata, a player Mourinho sold to United while at Chelsea, despite his obvious talent.

 

Talks Started for Breel Embolo

Mourinho has always favoured a counter-attacking game, one reliant on pace out wide. Perhaps that explains why United are already reportedly showing interest in Basel winger Breel Embolo.

Guardian journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed the Red Devils have even opened talks about the Swiss teenager’s agent:

Italian source Gianluca Di Marzio (h/t Metro) also reported United have asked super agent Jorge Mendes for help with any deal.

As a jet-heeled, creative forward, Embolo fits the kind of player Mourinho has built his fast-breaking style around in the past. At Chelsea it was Arjen Robben and Damien Duff, before Eden Hazard and Willian took the Portuguese to another Premier League title.

Embolo appears ready to step up the standard of his game. The 19-year-old has been catching the eye for Switzerland at UEFA Euro 2016. In fact, he starred in his nation’s recent 0-0 draw with hosts France, according to Squawka:

Embolo has the talent and versatility to operate on either flank or through the middle, a quality that would lend Mourinho‘s new-look United squad plenty of tactical flexibility.

As a young star on the rise, he’d also fit United’s historic fidelity to developing youthful talent, an area where Mourinho‘s credentials are sure to be under scrutiny.

Adding more pace and guile to an attack that was static for most of last season is an obvious priority for Mourinho. The targets currently said to be on his radar suit the kind of counter-attacking game he’s likely to make the norm at Old Trafford. 

from Bleacher Report – Front Page http://ift.tt/1tDJbOJ
via IFTTT http://ift.tt/eA8V8J