Liverpool target Henrikh Mkhitaryan joins Dortmund

Liverpool have lost out on one of their major transfer targets after Shakhtar Donetsk's Henrikh Mkhitaryan signed for German side Borussia Dortmund.

Reds manager Brendan Rodgers identified the 24-year-old attacking midfielder as a top priority.

But the Armenian international has chosen to sign for last season's losing Champions League finalists.

Shakhtar said the fee was 27.5m euros (£24.4m), while Dortmund added that his deal with them runs until June 2017.

Mkhitaryan began his career at Pyunik in his home country and scored 30 goals in 70 league appearances.

He moved to Ukraine to join Metalurh Donetsk in the summer of 2009 and, after 12 goals in 37 top-flight outings, was signed by Shakhtar in August 2010.

He has scored 38 goals in 72 league games for the club, and was Ukraine's top-flight leading scorer with 25 goals in 29 league outings last season.

Borussia Dortmund's chairman of the board Hans-Joachim Watzke said: "It was not an easy transfer, but we really wanted to have Henrikh - and now we have him."

Liverpool were happy to meet the asking price for Mkhitaryan but it is believed they never got the chance to hold talks with the highly-rated player.

Rodgers had hoped to add the player to summer signings Kolo Toure from Manchester City, Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas and Sevilla's Luis Alberto.