MANCHESTER UNITED ARE poised to sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund on a four-year contract with the deal expected to be concluded this weekend.

The Armenian has one year left on his contract with the Bundesliga club and was expected to leave this summer.

For a while, it looked like Arsenal were at the top of the queue to sign him but, over the last week, United have emerged as the front-runners.

The fee involved is believed to be an initial £26.3 million but that could rise to £31.7m with add-ons.

The 27-year-old struggled with a hefty price tag when he first arrived at Dortmund in 2013 – costing £23.5m from Shakhtar Donetsk.

But he has been a star performer under coach Thomas Tuchel with the 2015/2016 season proving his best yet in German football as he netted 23 times in all competitions.

The deal to bring Mkhitaryan to Old Trafford pretty much confirms two things: that Mourinho will continue with a 4-2-3-1 formation and the club are probably still in the market for a striker to lead the line.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been heavily touted as being that player and rumours swirl that both he and Mkhitaryan will be unveiled prior to Mourinho’s first official press conference as United boss on July 5.

Villarreal defender Eric Bailly signed for United earlier this month.

Peter Byrne Peter Byrne

Fans will hope that Mkhitaryan will enjoy a better experience in Manchester than the last player they signed from Dortmund.

Shinji Kagawa arrived in the summer of 2012 but returned to the German side two years later after a disappointing stint in the Premier League.

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