Armenian wizard of Manchester United: Spanish Atlantico on football superstar Mkhitaryan

When Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho became the boss of Manchester United in 2016, he didn’t want to make a revolution in the team’s star squad. Instead, Manchester had four new signings, including Henrikh Mkhitaryan who has ‘an exotic origin and huge talent, a magician whose contribution had a decisive significance in the Europa League,’ the Spanish Atlantico reported in an article entitled ‘The Armenian wizard of Manchester United’.

Atlantico mentioned that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the son of Hamlet Mkhitaryan, the famous Armenian footballer who died aged 33. The Spanish newspaper says this personal loss made Henrikh follow his dad’s footsteps. When Henrikh was 20 years old, he was transferred from Armenia’s Pyunik F.C. to the Ukrainian Metalurg F.C., followed by Shakhtar, where he played three seasons. Metalurg had paid 350 thousand Euros to get Henrikh, Shakhtar paid 5,8 million Euros, and in 2013 Borussia Dortmund had to pay 27,5 million Euros for the Armenian football superstar.

Mkhitaryan made 140 appearances in Borussia Dortmund, scoring 41 goals and 49 assists. In 2016, Manchester United paid 42 million Euros to sign Mkhitaryan. The Armenian international has made 35 appearances for Manchester United, scoring 10 goals.