There are tensions in the Arsenal camp over the involvement or omission of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from the squad for the Europa League final.
The Gunners qualified for the last stage of the competition with a 7-3 aggregate win over Valencia in a two-legged semi-final encounter and are now set to travel to Baku to face Chelsea on May 29.
Being a player of Armenian decent, Mkhitaryan is prohibited from traveling to the venue of the clash as a result of an age long diplomatic dispute between the host country and his.
This was the same issue that made the former Manchester United midfielder miss our Europa League group stage game against Qarabag as well as one while he was still with Borussia Dortmund.
Arsenal would want him to be involved in the final, however, a request to UEFA to grant them assurance of the player's security via the acquisition of a visa is still facing a delay which is why they have held back on making a decision on Mhiki's involvement..
"The safety and security of all of our players is of paramount importance," an Arsenal spokesperson said.
"We are seeking guarantees from Uefa that it will be safe for Henrikh Mkhitaryan to travel to Baku for the Europa League final, which both Arsenal and Micki require for him to be included within our squad.
"Acceptable guarantees have not been received yet, and we hope that Uefa will be able to supply these promptly.
"We are of course hugely concerned that the location of the final could lead to Micki not being able to play in a European final."
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