Armenia manager Artur Petrosyan has claimed Jose Mourinho treated Henrikh Mkhitaryan badly at Old Trafford and is glad the midfielder has left for Arsenal.
Mkhitaryan left Old Trafford in a swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez move in the opposite direction.
The Armenia star had been frozen out at Old Trafford and has only featured 15 times in the Premier League for Manchester United this season. His last appearance was on January 5th in the FA Cup against Derby.
image: http://www.squawka.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Mkhitaryan.jpg
His move to Arsenal could see the player get more game time and Petrosyan, who was Armenia’s all-time top-scorer for the National team until Mkhitaryan broke his record, believes that his player will improve at Arsenal.
“We are very happy with this transfer from Manchester United. His style of play will be better suited at Arsenal,” said Petrosyan, according to the The Telegraph.
“It is my impression that I think Henrikh had a problem with the coach [Mourinho], and, at Arsenal, it will be another thing and not the same situation. There will not be so much pressure on him defensively.”
He added of Wenger and Arsenal: “He likes them to play better football. I think Wenger is better for Henrikh.
“He is always one of the best players in the Premier league but, under this manager – Wenger – he will become even stronger.”
Arsene Wenger is still hopeful the club will sign Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but the move looks less likely following Dortmund’s recent decision to reject an offer of over £45 million. Whether Arsenal will increase their bid before the transfer window closes on Wednesday remains to be seen.
The Armenian made his name with Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk, where he became a popular figure with the fans, scoring 44 times in 106 appearances. From there he moved to German giants Borussia Dortmund and became a key cog in Klopp’s team.
He scored 44 goals in 140 appearances for Dortmund before Manchester United signed him for around £30 million at the start of the 2016-17 season.
The highlight of his time at Old Trafford was the goal he scored in the Europa Cup final win against Ajax.
Despite his recent transfer, Mkitaryan will be called up to play for Armenia in March for the friendly against Lithuania, according to Petrosyan.
“Henrikh will play. He wants to play. Even if he played twice a week at his club, he would want to play every game for Armenia. Even if I say, ‘You play just one half’, he says, ‘No, I play all the game’.”
Mkitaryan is available to play for his new club on Tuesday when they face Swansea away.