Reports: Roma and Arsenal Working on Loan Deal for Henrik Mkhitaryan

With less than a day remaining in the European transfer window, I suppose it was right to expect some off the wall rumors connecting Roma to players they can't afford and guys who really have no motivation to move to Italy, but to see an actual rumor appear out of nothing and gain traction (with so little time to do so) is quite another thing. After all, as we've seen so, so, so many times, the transfer form rumor to, well, transfer can take weeks if not months.

But you know what they say: desperate times call for desperate measures. With Roma lacking production on the wings through their first two matches, and if nothing else needing added depth to replace Stephan El Shaarawy, Roma are reportedly looking to the Premiership for help once more.

As you can see, both Austini (Il Tempo) and Romano (Sky) are reporting that Roma and Arsenal are discussing a last minute transfer of 30-year-old midfielder and sometimes winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan (h/t to RomaPress for breaking this to the English speaking world as well), who is apparently falling down the pecking order at Arsenal despite scoring six goals and contributing four assists in little more than 1,600 league minutes last year.

Per their reports (or Tweets, I suppose), the two clubs are negotiating a season-long loan deal for Mkhitaryan, one that may include an option to buy. At first blush, this move doesn't make a ton of sense, Roma are loaded in the midfield after all, but Mkhitaryan has played out wide numerous times in his career, most notably during his breakout campaigns with Borussia Dortmund.

So, if we view him as an alternative to Justin Kluivert or Diego Perotti (and possibly even as a fill in as an attacking midfielder), then this is far easier to understand, but he makes a ton of money, so it will be interesting to see the final financial figures on this one.

Buckle up, the next 18 hours or so figure to be crazy.