Manchester United: Borussia Dortmund CEO Watzke refutes January deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Borussia Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has ruled out any move for Manchester United's out of favour midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, deeming any talk of a deal for the Armenian International has been conceived in the imagination of reporters.

The 28-year-old's future has been the subject of intense speculation as a result of his failure to nail down a place in Jose Mourinho's plans at Old Trafford. The midfielder has only managed substitute appearances in the EFL Cup loss to Bristol City and the 2-2 Premier League draw with Leicester City in the past week and is yet to start a high profile game since the 1-0 loss to Chelsea on November 5.

The Independent reported Dortmund as the favourites in signing the Armenia international, whom they sold to United for £30m ($40m) in July 2016. United will demand a transfer fee of £35m ($48m) from any club wanting to sign Mkhitaryan, according to the Daily Mail.

Watzke stated that the fees demanded by United were not something that can be considered by Dortmund and has completely warded off talk of a possible transfer in January.

"I know the economic details of his transfer to Man United like nobody else," he told Bild am Sonntag, as quoted by Goal. "That's why [his return] is only conceivable with a great deal of imagination."

Mourinho has previously accused the midfielder of disappearing in games and has revealed that he would allow any departure in January should any interested party meet the expected price. The Red Devils are also trying to get Marouane Fellaini to sign a new deal with his current contract expiring in six months.

Jesse Lingard is the player who has made the most out of the Armenian's misery, starring in recent wins over Arsenal and also grabbed eyeballs. The likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata have also been preferred over the Armenian in the forward line.

"For the right price, that is my approach as a manager in case the club advise. Every player has a price," Mourinho said, as quoted by Sky Sports, fuelling rumours of a busy transfer window.

"If a player is not happy and if a player brings with him a request with the number that we consider is a good number it happened with Memphis (Depay) and Morgan (Schneiderlin), I would never say no."