Henrikh likes the look of new boys
HENRIKH Mkhitaryan knows exactly what Victor Lindelof is going through – but is convinced United’s £30m summer signing will prove his worth.
Lindelof struggled in pre-season following his move from Benfica and the Swede was left out of United’s Premier League opening squad against West Ham by manager Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho said the 22-year-old’s exile to the stands was because he wasn’t yet ready for the English league.
Twelve months ago it was Mkhitaryan enduring Mourinho’s tough love. Slowly introduced as a sub, the £27m buy from Borussia Dortmund then had a shocker of a full debut against City at Old Trafford. It wasn’t until late winter and spring that the Armenian midfielder finally showed his class.
“Lindelof is still going to have time to show himself,” he said.
“So I want to say all the players are good signings and they are going to help us a lot.
“As a player and for a club, you are always going to have ups and downs. I think the last few years was a little bit down for the club but since last year, and this year, I hope it is going be up for the club.
“We are going to try to do our best to bring the club on the level it was at before. It is always hard but we will try and do our best.”
But while Lindelof looked on United’s 4-0 win was highlighted by Nemanja Matic’s man of the match role.
Mkhitaryan, however, believed the Reds £140m summer investment in three new faces will pay big dividends.
“It was not only Matic (against West Ham),” added Mkhitaryan.
“I want to mention as well the other two new signings, Lindelof and [Romelu] Lukaku. They are very good players. They are Manchester United players.
“Matic does a big job on the pitch. He tries to recover all the balls. He defensively does a big job. Actually I am surprised Chelsea sold him but at the same time I am very happy that we have got him.
“Lukaku scored his goals. It’s his job to score goals. It doesn’t matter how you are going to score. The important thing is to score goals. He is going to score goals and he is going to help us.”