In the last few summer transfer windows, Borussia Dortmund have seen several of their star players leave their club and join either Bayern Munich or other top European clubs. It all started with Mario Gotze decided to join the Bundesliga winners. The midfielder, who scored Germany's only goal against Argentina in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final would have expected his club career could be better after that, but that has not been the case.
Robert Lewandowski was the next player to join Bayern and he was followed by Mats Hummels, who swapped the Signal Iduna Park for the Allianz Arena. The German international decided to join the domestic champions earlier this summer and Ilkay Gundogan left Dortmund and joined Manchester City in the Premier League.
Now Henrikh Mkhitaryan's name has surfaced in recent days as the midfielder impressed last season, scoring 18 goals and set up 20 more goals for his teammates in all competitions. The Armenian international's form had attracted interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.
However, Mkhitaryan has set his sights on joining the Red Devils and his agent, Mino Raiola confirmed that playing for United is a "unique opportunity." Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has refused to allow the player leave the club in the summer transfer window.
ESPN FC reported that the Bundesliga outfit has rejected United's £19m bid for Mkhitaryan. However, Sky Italia's Gianluca Di Marzio claims Dortmund are willing to do business if United are willing to meet their asking price.
Also read: Borussia Dortmund chief looking to block Henrikh Mkhitaryan's move to Manchester United
Mkhitaryan has one year left on his contract with his current employers and after putting on a brilliant display in the 2015-16 season. Dortmund are demanding a fee of €40m (£30.8m) in order to part ways with the player.
The German club's valuation is over £10m more than what United reportedly had offered earlier but Mkhitaryan's agent is pushing for a United transfer and is willing to convince Dortmund to sanction their player's sale this summer.
"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," BBC Sport quoted Raiola as saying.
"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."
Should United manage to land him, they will get a star player for the upcoming campaign.
