Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has admitted that he was close to joining Tottenham in the summer of 2013 before agreeing to sign for Borussia Dortmund instead.
Mkhitaryan arrived at Manchester United in a big-money move from Dortmund in 2016 after having three excellent seasons with the Bundesliga giants but he failed to hit the same heights at Old Trafford.
The 31-year-old swapped the Red Devils for Arsenal in the January of 2018 but failed to rediscover the form which made him a success in the Bundesliga.
The Armenian international is currently enjoying a resurgence on loan at AS Roma having notched up six goals and four assists in seventeen games so far this campaign (transfermarkt).
The midfielder, who was at the time playing for Shakhtar Donetsk revealed that he had the option to move to the Premier League three years before he eventually made his move and that he even travelled to London with his agent Mino Raiola to discuss a move to the Lilywhites.
Speaking to Italian publication Siamo La Roma, Mkhitaryan said: “I left with Raiola for London, initially to speak with Tottenham.
“We were waiting for offers from Liverpool but we weren’t sure. Then we received the call from Dortmund and immediately flew to Germany.
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“They had sold Götze and needed a new ‘number 10’. In Liverpool and Tottenham the seats were already taken, so moving to Borussia was the best thing to do. Klopp immediately told me his ideas, where he saw me on the pitch.”
Spurs Web Opinion
2013 was the summer we went on a spending spree with the Bale money. I’m not surprised we were in for Mkhitaryan as we seemed to be interested in almost every decent player who was available that window. As it happened, the attacking players we signed that summer- Eriksen, Lamela, Chadli did well for the club. So it looks like Mkhitaryan’s choice to snub us worked out well for the club in the end.
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