German giants Borussia Dortmund are closing in on the signature of Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the Bundesliga outfit said Monday.
Dortmund released a statement saying they have come to an agreement "in principle" with the 24-year-old and his current club Shakhtar Donetsk, although "the details need to be sorted out".
The news will come as a blow to Liverpool, who were also interested in a player who scored 25 goals in 29 Ukrainian league matches last season.
He is expected to cost Dortmund 23 million euros ($29.6 million), according to press reports, and will sign a four-year deal.
While Dortmund finished second in the Bundesliga last season and can look forward to another campaign in the Champions League, where they reached the final in May before losing to Bayern Munich, Liverpool cannot even offer Europa League football.
Borussia see Mkhitaryan as the ideal playmaking replacement for Mario Goetze, who left to join Bayern at the end of last season.
That could spell an end to Dortmund's transfer dealings during the off season as the statement said the stock-exchange listed club had "exhausted" their finances.
They have already signed Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Saint-Etienne and Greek defender Sokratis from Werder Bremen.
Source: AFP
