It is almost a week to the D-day of the UEFA Europa League finals at Baku stadium in Azerbaijan, with Arsenal and Chealsea anxious to walk away with silver ware.
The Wednesday 29 event has elicited mixed reactions among fans with some feeling that Arsenal will outnumber Chelsea’s efforts to bring the cup to London, on grounds that the blues are struggling to overturn transfer ban.
With Eden Hazard transfer to Madrid and coach Maurizio Sarri’s looming ouster, Chelsea seems to be disadvantaged.
However, Arsenal is also likely to face difficulties in the match, after confirming that Henrikh MKhitaryan will not be part of the squad to Baku.
In a statement seen on the clubs website, the gunners appeal to have tried all means possible to have the player on board to no avail.
The club did not mention the details of his absence but regretted that such a key player should not have missed out on the historic event.
Here is the statement…
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT
Henrikh Mkhitaryan to miss Europa League final
We are very disappointed to announce that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not be travelling with the squad for our UEFA Europa League final against Chelsea.
We have thoroughly explored all the options for Micki to be part of the squad but after discussing this with Micki and his family we have collectively agreed he will not be in our travelling party.
We have written to UEFA expressing our deep concerns about this situation. Micki has been a key player in our run to the final so this is a big loss for us from a team perspective.
We’re also very sad that a player will miss out on a major European final in circumstances such as this, as it is something that comes along very rarely in a footballer’s career.
Micki will continue to be part of our preparations until we depart for Baku at the weekend.
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