Shakhtar coach urges playmaker not to join lesser club Tottenham

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu has warned Henrikh Mkhitaryan against joining Liverpool or Tottenham.

Mkhitaryan missed the start of a training camp this month with Shakhtar in order to push through an exit from the Ukrainian outfit.

Shakhtar’s coach Lucescu has made the laughable claim that Tottenham are well below the level of the club he is currently playing at and should only move to a club such as Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Lucescu states that every year Shakhtar are in the Champions League and he’s right, although I’m sure if we played in the Ukrainian Premier League we’d qualify for Europe’s top club competition season after season also.

The 24-year-old is valued at around £20million, but whether we’ll actually make a move for him when if you listen to the “ITK’s”, David Villa is apparently on the verge of joining us remains to be seen.

“It is his decision, his desire, but there is still time for him to change his mind, because I think he is making a big mistake,” Lucescu is quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror.

“I can understand the urge to leave if he has a chance to go to a club that surpasses Shakhtar, like Barcelona or Real Madrid, but not many clubs are beyond our level – not clubs like Liverpool or Tottenham.

“We are a strong club with 50,000 passionate supporters every week, and every year we are fighting for the league, the cups and the Champions League.

“This place is good for him, and he is making a mistake if he thinks there are many teams above this level.”