Mkhitaryan hoping for Dortmund stay

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is hoping Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel can convince him to stay at the club beyond the end of the season. 

The Armenia international has been in superb form for the Bundesliga outfit this year – contributing six goals and eight assists in 16 league appearances.

Even his performances last season attracted interest from other clubs, and Mkhitaryan said Tuchel was able to convince him to stay. 

“I met him for the first time in March and he convinced me to stay,” Mkhitaryan told Deutsche Welle.

“Because really, from the first talk we had he told me that “Miki, I can bring you to a level of high-class.” And yeah, at one point I doubted it because I was not really confident that after a bad season he could make me a high-class player. But he did it and I’m thankful to him.

“He talks to all the players and he gets into the right conversation with them. He gives a lot of advice. He can tell you where you’re right, where you’re wrong and then you start to think about it all and at the end you realise that he was really right.”

“I wanted to stay also, because I had some things to prove to the people, to show that I deserve to be here. 

“That’s why I am trying to stay this year also, to show all my qualities in helping the team to win a lot of games.”

The 27-year-old’s deal at Dortmund does not run out until the end of the 2016-17 season, but Mkitaryan is hopeful Tuchel can convince him to reject offers from any other clubs. 

“I hope so,” he said. “If he did the first step, why not the second?”