Borussia Dortmund has reportedly turned down the idea of re-signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan if his Manchester United stint turns out to be a flop.
Mkhitaryan was supposed to have a contract extension with Dortmund in the summer after playing three seasons with the German club. But the 27-year-old Armenia international chose to move to England with United in a £30 million blockbuster transfer.
Things are not going along well as planned for Mkhitaryan at the Old Trafford, though, as he had only appeared five times this season and had minimal playing time during those instances because of injury and competition for spots.
He is currently behind Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, and Paul Pogba in the no. 10 role pecking order and had only been fielded in by United manager Jose Mourinho during the closing minutes of games.
From being a 23-goal, 26-assist man and part of the core group for Dortmund last season, he became a deep bench substitute that may or may not play games depending on the performance of other players.
The Independent said that because of what is currently happening, reports from Germany suggested that Dortmund is "considering an audacious offer to take him back and rescue him from his Old Trafford exile".
However, Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke denied the reports, saying that Mkhitaryan's decision was "strange" and he was wrong for leaving the club and will never be allowed back.
"Any intelligent player should consider in advance what kind of environment they are moving to," said Watzke, as per ESPN. "When you are playing in surroundings where things are working for you, like in Dortmund, then it is quite strange to give that away again once things have finally started to work out for you after a long time settling in."
There were rumors that Mkhitaryan's agent, Mino Raiola, who is the same agent of teammates and fellow new signings Zlatan Ibrahimović and Paul Pogba, had influenced the Armenian's decision to leave Dortmund, but Watzke clarified the deal.
"In Mkhitaryan's case it was the player's decision," Watzke said. "Raiola is intelligent, and he's a brute. He has a certain business model, but we knew that already when we sat down because of Mkhitaryan. You know what you have with him. Raiola acted correctly."
