Henrikh is facing fight for future
MANCHESTER UNITED outcast Henrikh Mkhitaryan is facing a battle to convince manager Jose Mourinho that he deserves to reclaim his place.
Mkhitaryan’s form has deserted him to such an extent Mourinho has axed him from United’s last two match-day squads, despite the attacking midfielder being fully fit.
Mourinho left Mkhitaryan (right) out of the squad that beat Newcastle 4-1 last weekend – and made the 28-year-old travel to Basel before omitting him from Wednesday’s
disappointing 1-0 Champions League defeat in Switzerland.
Mourinho hopes the stigma of being dropped will jolt the Armenian from his slumber.
Signed from Borussia Dortmund for £27million in July 2016, Mkhitaryan enjoyed an impressive start this season – producing a handful of assists to apparently cement his place as United’s No.10.
But his form dropped off, with Mourinho and his United coaches deciding he no longer warranted his place and agreeing to drop him completely.
Mkhitaryan has been on the receiving end of Mourinho’s ‘tough love’ approach before. He was exiled for nearly two months last season following a calamitous 45 minutes in United’s 2-1 derby defeat by City.
The playmaker returned to become one of United’s most effective players as they won the League Cup and Europa League.
Mourinho has preferred Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial in attacking roles recently, while Jesse Lingard is in favour again – and £89m Paul Pogba back in business after injury.