Inter Boss Plays Down Interest in Man Utd Star as Report Claims Player Isn't Interested Either

Henrikh Mkhitaryan's future at Manchester United is up in the air after various reports claimed he would - and would not - be leaving for Inter on loan.

Confusion reigns supreme in both Milan and Manchester on Friday morning after three seperate reports all alleged that the Red Devils outcast was either on the cusp of moving to San Siro or would be staying at Old Trafford.

BBC Football reporter Simon Stone kicked the rumour off as he took to Twitter to claim that Inter wanted to prise Mkhitaryan away temporarily, but that Jose Mourinho's side were only interested in selling the Armenia international.

ESPN, however, carry quotes from Nerazzurri boss Luciano Spalletti, who remarked that the Serie A giants would not enter any race to land the 28-year-old due to the fact that they couldn't afford him.

Spalletti stated: "Mkhitaryan, [Javier] Pastore and then... you see? You need €30-40m to buy them. We don't have it. It's no use beating about the bush - I've been told that we can't spend €40m, so there's no point even talking about it.

"Maybe you could have an exchange of players on loan, but then you would need, for example, Manchester United to want one of our players, but you've both got to have the same intentions.

"Everybody has to align with this FFP and nearly everybody needs to bring in more money."

Spalletti's last quote about needing to stay within UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules seem to have put a mocker on any possible deal to lure Mkhitaryan to Italy.

Additionally, talkSPORT report that Mkhitarayan himself isn't interested in the move either, preferring instead to fight for his place in Jose Mourinho's team at Old Trafford.

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The ex-Dortmund star has 'no interest' in departing the Premier League for Italy's top flight, and Inter could now turn their attentions to other targets.

One of those on Inter's shortlist is said to be Barcelona's Gerard Deulofeu, who could find game time in Catalonia hard to come by with the rumoured £140m signing of Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.

Mkhitaryan has only recently worked his way back into the United fold after a huge falling out with Mourinho back in late November.