Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has divulged that it was Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s work ethic that enabled him to force his way into the Red Devils starting eleven. The 27-year-old summer signing, who arrived at Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund for £27 million, endured a tough start to his life in England.
Following his arrival in Manchester, many believed the Armenian international would emulate his fine form for Dortmund last season and take the Premier League by storm. However, things didn’t turn out to be that way as Mkhitaryan’s first league start was a game that went horribly wrong for both him and United as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Manchester City.
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The 27-year-old was taken off at half-time and was subsequently left out of the line-up for nearly 2 months but the Armenian’s resolve impressed the Portuguese manager and he was subsequently brought back into the side.
Mourinho was awed by Mkhitaryan’s commitment and lauded his professionalism. “I had players with a similar process of adaptation, we bought him, it was not a player who was chosen by other people,” said the United manager.
"We bought him because I asked the club to do it, I like the player, I analysed the player, it’ll be more frustrating for me if everything went wrong he needed a period of adaptation at every level. And he was very professional, he didn’t find excuses, another player might blame the manager, the pitch, the weather like many other players do.
“He was quiet, he closed his mouth, worked really hard waiting for this opportunity and is playing so well now. But hopefully it’s not a few matches out that are going to stop his evolution,” Mourinho added.
Mkhitaryan has rediscovered his old self as he scored his first goal for Manchester United against Zorya Luhansk in the Europa league and it was his strike that helped United beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. However, the 27-year-old suffered a minor setback as he sustained an ankle injury during the game against Spurs, sidelining him for a couple of weeks.
It will be interesting to see who replaces Mkhitaryan in the United line-up with Mourinho stating that he has a selection headache regarding the same. “Rooney, [Marcus] Rashford, [Jesse] Lingard, Ashley Young, Memphis Depay – that’s a position where we have lots of players so that will not be another problem, to chose a player to play,” Mourinho said. “The problem is he [Mkhitaryan] was playing so well and now he’s not there.”
