Bharath Rammr
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has become a strange signing by Jose Mourinho. Despite having spent £26 million on the player, Mourinho has been highly reluctant to utilise him in any form. Mkhitaryan has made only one start since his move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer. It is not like the Armenian international is one of the future. At 27 years of age, Mkhitaryan he is at the peak of his career and he more than aptly demonstrated this element with 11 goals and 15 assists in just 31 league appearances last season.
Yet, Mourinho does not seem to be even remotely interested in giving the player a chance to prove himself. His latest explanation is that the 27-year-old needs more time to settle in the Premier League. Manchester United fans have the right to be perplexed with the explanation, as the only way of helping a player settle to a new league is by giving him opportunities. Mourinho, though, will point to the injury suffered by the player in the 2-1 loss against Manchester City earlier in the season.
Mkhitaryan was certainly off-colour in the game against City, but so were many other United players. It also does not make sense to judge a player on the back of one performance in which he played only 45 minutes. After having spent the last few weeks on the sidelines, Mourinho says that Mkhitaryan is edging closer to a first-team return. He says that the 27-year-old is ready to be a key player for United sooner rather than later. Mourinho said:
“I think it takes time. Some players, their profile is adapted to come and play, some others they need more time to feel the intensity and the aggression, the game without the ball, the competitiveness.
“Micky needs time to become the top player he can be. Of course we believe in him and of course we believe that sooner or later there will be no problem.”
Incredibly, there have already been many transfer rumours linking the 27-year-old with a move away from the club in the January transfer window. Mourinho is no stranger to sending player’s without giving them a chance, but not often with a player that he signed. The Portuguese famously sold Kevin De Bruyne for £23 million when he was at Chelsea. The Belgian international was given a run-out in the first team only for a couple of matches before being sold. De Bruyne returned to the Premier League with Manchester City within two years as a £55 million player.
