Arsenal to prioritise safety over Mkhitaryan's Azerbaijan visa for Europa League game
Unai Emery hopes Henrikh Mkhitaryan is able to travel to Azerbaijan despite the conflict between the country and the playmaker’s native Armenia.
Arsenal are due to travel to Baku on October 4 for a Uefa Europa League group stage tie against Azerbaijani champions Qarabag, The Evening Standard reports.
A spokesperson for Arsenal told Standard Sport: “Safety and security of our players and staff is always a top priority. We will be looking into this situation, talk to the player and make a decision after that.”
Uefa confirmed that it would support any visa application for Mkhitaryan.
"It is a standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain visa for players in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa competition matches,” a spokesperson said.
Significantly the Europa League final will also be played in Baku. Should Arsenal make it that far, Mkhitaryan will likely be a key player for Emery.