Borussia Dortmund rule out re-signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United

Borussia Dortmund have no interest in rescuing Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United. The 27-year-old Armenian swapped the Bundesliga for Old Trafford in a £30m ($36.4m) move over the summer, but has since failed to match fans' expectations.

Mkhitaryan was substituted at half-time after a miserable performance in the Manchester derby, while his spell in England has also been blighted by injury troubles. Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has now claimed the Germans would not be interested in offering Mkhitaryan an escape route, as they have previously done for the likes of Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa and Mario Gotze.

Asked if Mkhitaryan could return to Dortmund in the future, Watzke simply replied: "No." He added that any player thinking of leaving Dortmund should consider the ramifications of the move.

"Any intelligent player should consider in advance what kind of environment they are moving to," he told Kicker in light of Mkhitaryan's switch to United. "When you are playing in surroundings where things are working for you, like in Dortmund, then it is quite strange to give that away again once things have finally started to work out for you after a long time settling in."

Watzke also revealed that Mkhitaryan's agent, the larger-than-life Mino Raiola, played a key role in the Armenian joining United. "In Mkhitaryan's case it was the player's decision. Raiola is intelligent, and he's a brute," Watzke said of Raiola's role in the United transfer.

"He has a certain business model, but we knew that already when we sat down because of Mkhitaryan. You know what you have with him. Raiola acted correctly."

Meanwhile, United recently confirmed that Mkhitaryan is fit and available for selection for their game against Liverpool at Anfield on Monday (17 October) following a thigh injury. The pacey midfielder sustained the knock while leading Armenia in a friendly against the Czech Republic in August and later aggravated the same problem during the season's first Manchester derby.