Report: Henrikh Mkhitaryan flying in for Liverpool medical as £25m move edges nearer

Armenian international midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will undergo a medical at Liverpool in the next couple of days to complete his switch from Shakhtar Donetsk, according to reports in Eastern Europe.

Russian news agency ITAR-TASS, one of the world’s largest news agencies, is reporting tonight (Monday) that the 24-year-old is set to fly to Merseyside to undergo the medical and put pen to paper on the move to Anfield.

The news agency reports (translated):

Mkhitaryan will fly to England. Liverpool will officially announce the signing of the contract with the player towards the end of the week. The amount of compensation for the top scorer in the Championship of Ukraine will be about €30million [around £25million].

Speculation has increased in recent days around Liverpool’s move for Mkhitaryan, with reports this morning suggesting the Reds had launched a bid which had triggered a release clause in his Shakhtar contract.

On Saturday night, news agency Bloomberg reported that Liverpool Managing Director Ian Ayre had cancelled a trip to a football economics conference in Brazil in favour of finalising a deal for Mkhitaryan.

There had been fresh doubt on Liverpool’s ability to attract the attacking midfielder, who scored 25 goals in the Ukranaian Premier League last season, with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Juventus also interested.

However, Dortmund are reported to be signing Christian Eriksen, and with these reports that Mkhitaryan is set to undergo a medical at Melwood shortly, a move to the Reds could be imminent.

The signing of Mkhitaryan would undoubtedly be Liverpool’s ‘marquee signing’ of the summer and some have suggested it may be enough to convince Luis Suarez to stay at Liverpool, rather than ply for the move to Real Madrid he has hinted this summer. Initial reports linking Liverpool with Mkhitaryan last month suggested he was a transfer target irrespective of Suarez’s future.

Earlier today, we brought you a comprehensive report on how Mkhitaryan would benefit Liverpool should he sign.

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