Jurgen Klopp might not appreciate it at Old Trafford on Sunday but he can take some of the credit for the way Henrikh Mkhitaryan has spectacularly turned his career around at Manchester United.
By his own admission, Mkhitaryan was an overly intense individual when he signed for Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund rather than Liverpool in 2013, fired up by the memory of his late father Hamlet, a former professional who died from a brain tumour aged just 33.
The Armenian midfielder — who gave Old Trafford its latest ‘Theatre of Dreams’ moment with his thrilling scorpion-kick goal against Sunderland on Boxing Day — reveals it was a heart-to-heart with Klopp during his early days in Germany that helped him relax.
‘He was always next to you if there were playing problems or life problems. He is a good person,’ says Mkhitaryan ahead of his reunion with the Anfield boss.
‘In particular, he helped me a lot because I was thinking too much about football. I took defeats too seriously, I’d obsess about any chances I missed. He told me that it’s just life and I had to let it go because when the next chance comes, I needed to be in the right frame of mind to take it.
‘I learned to realise that everyone makes mistakes in life and you can’t worry on the pitch. You have to forget about it.’ It is advice that Mkhitaryan has heeded in his short but eventful time at United so far.
Signed to great acclaim, the £27 million star lasted just 45 minutes on his full debut against Manchester City and then didn’t appear for nearly two months. Questions were raised about everything from his physical suitability to his relationship with Mourinho.
It took great mental fortitude to stay patient and strong. When Mkhitaryan was called upon against Feyenoord on November 24, he turned in a man-of-the-match performance and hasn’t looked back, scoring in three consecutive games against Zorya, Tottenham and Sunderland, and setting up Juan Mata’s goal against Hull on Tuesday night as United chalked up their ninth win in a row.
‘I played really bad against City,’ he says, looking back. ‘As a footballer you just have to try to learn what you’ve done bad and what I could do good.
‘During that time, I had conversations with Jose Mourinho. You can feel the confidence he gives you. I kept talking to (agent) Mino Raiola. We are like two friends before anything else. He said, “Mikhi, you know what, this is life experience”‘. I said, “Mino, I know and I will never give up. I’ve had a long way to come to Manchester United and one day for sure I will play”.’
In mitigation, he’d received a kick on the quadricep tendon playing for Armenia against Czech Republic a few days before the Manchester derby. He could run but the leg would hurt, a major handicap for a player who relies on speed and twisting past defenders.
Should he have been more honest with Mourinho and admit he wasn’t 100 per cent? ‘I was so emotional and hungry to start for Manchester United, I couldn’t tell him I can’t play because I felt a little bit of pain. If they trust you, you have to play,’ he says.
‘Maybe next time I would say it’s better not to risk me, not to put the team under this kind of pressure.
‘But it’s not easy to pull out. The first time I stepped out at Old Trafford [as a substitute v Southampton], I literally had goosebumps come up on my arm. I’m not a kid but I still had that feeling of great responsibility seeing 75,000 supporters shouting for United. It made me happy.’
The autumn of discontent ended for Mkhitaryan when he received a standing ovation in United’s 4-0 win against Feyenoord. ‘It changed everything,’ he says.
‘I was totally relaxed, I knew I had to go out and play my game, nothing else.’
Mkhitaryan, known as Micki in football and who turns 28 next week, is intelligent company with a fascinating back story. Born in Armenia, he left his homeland as a baby when the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1989 made it dangerous to stay.
The family lived in France where his father played for Second Division Valence until they returned to Armenia in tragic circumstances, with Hamlet terminally ill with a brain tumour.
Seven-year-old Henrikh dealt with the grief by pledging to follow his father’s career.
At 13, he was handpicked to go on a football academy exchange to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.
Besides honing his language skills — he speaks six: Armenian, Russian, French, English, German and Portuguese — Mkhitaryan recalls: ‘Brazil was a very good experience, I learned a lot about how to play football, both technical and physical. There would be a hundred kids of all ages, training and doing classes together.’
His professional career took off in Ukraine, where he starred for Shakhtar Donetsk and by the summer of 2013, he had three serious suitors: Liverpool, Andre-Villas Boas’s Tottenham and Dortmund, who had just reached the Champions League final.
‘I spoke two or three times on the phone to [Liverpool manager] Brendan Rodgers, he was saying he really wanted me and that I’d get to play with Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard.
‘Half of me thought I had to go there, the other half was not so confident, that the gap to the Premier League might be too big for a skinny player from the Ukrainian League.
‘Two weeks later, Jurgen Klopp broke off his holiday on an island next to Denmark to come and see me in Dortmund. I knew he had a good reputation for working with younger players and, after we met, I felt more comfortable to sign for Dortmund. I think I made the right decision.’
According to Mkhitaryan, Mourinho and Klopp are two different characters but share the same invaluable asset of infusing their players with confidence.
He says: ‘Mourinho is friendly but maybe a little harder, he can help you and is ready to bring out the best in you. Maybe he doesn’t hug his players a lot like Jurgen Klopp but you can still feel the trust he gives you, that is important for football players.
‘Different managers give confidence in different ways. Some by hugging, others by talking or having conversations. Though of course Marouane [Fellaini] gets hugs — when he scores!’
Single, Mkhitaryan prefers to live in the city centre rather than in Footballers’ Wives Cheshire. His family are regular visitors, though his mother Marina has had to fly home before Sunday’s match for her work with her country’s football federation.
Mention Armenia and the player’s eyes light up. What is it famous for? ‘Apricots, cognac . . . and Noah’s Ark,’ he says with a smile.
At this point, Mkhitaryan spots Thierry Henry in the United academy building, there to interview Ibrahimovic on the big game for Sky Sports. They embrace and hold a quick conversation in French before the player returns to his interview in English to recall his last match against Liverpool, for Dortmund in last season’s Europa League.
‘We lost the tie in the last 20 minutes. It was painful,’ he says. ‘I think this season they are even better. You can see the real face of Liverpool because Klopp has been there longer.’
United are also better, moving to the edges of the Champions League spots, the knockout stages of the Europa League and into the EFL Cup semi-finals following a 14-match unbeaten run.
Though Mkhitaryan’s skills mark him down as a fantasy player in the mould of George Best or Ryan Giggs, he shares Mourinho’s belief that tricks and flicks are worthless without contributing to the common cause.
‘It is not only about being technically good, it is all about giving your heart for the club, giving your best. You are not here to show off yourself, you are here to show off Manchester United, that it’s a big club,’ he says.
‘You can’t go on the pitch thinking you want to do something that makes the fans love you, that’s not right. You have to play with your heart, then the fans love you. The other way, everyone will think you’re not playing for the team.’
Even so, his volley against Sunderland was an out-of-your-seat moment that supporters crave, even if he was fractionally offside. Does he think it can be Goal of the Season given the competition from Olivier Giroud’s own scorpion kick for Arsenal against Crystal Palace?
‘I don’t care if I’m going to be goal of the season,’ he says disarmingly. ‘I’m not playing to win awards or show people that I can score that kind of goal. It was a split-second thing anyway. I wasn’t even planning to shoot like that but the ball came there and in a second [he clicks his fingers] I just took the decision, “OK, I have to do the backheel”.
‘You can’t compare the goal with Giroud or say which one was best. They were different matches, different situations. Both were great. They help to make the Premier League what it is.’
United, who earned a goalless draw at Anfield earlier in the season, could close the gap on Liverpool to two points if they win on Sunday. Or fall eight points behind if they lose.
‘It’s a game for six points,’ says Mkhitaryan, not trying to hide the importance. ‘Nobody wants to lose this, nobody on our side wants a big gap to grow.’
He will acknowledge Klopp if their paths cross but knows Mourinho is his future now.
‘I had two years with Klopp, I’ve had a shorter time with Jose Mourinho so far but I hope I still have a few years more to work with him. I have to show I can be helpful for the team.’
MKHITARYAN ON.. HIS AUTUMN EXILE
I had conversations with Jose Mourinho (right). Obviously it’s not that I’m not accepting that I didn’t play bad. I played really bad.
But you are a footballer, things can happen. You just have to try to learn from the game what you could do better. Of course then I didn’t play for a while [after his first start, against Manchester City], I was injured. I wasn’t playing but that isn’t an excuse, I always continued working hard, I was trying to learn what I had done bad and what I could do good.
MKHITARYAN ON.. HIS AND GIROUD’S SCORPION GOALS
I don’t want to compare the goals, which one was best [his or Olivier Giroud’s]. I can only say these kind of goals make the Premier League more beautiful and joyful to watch.
They were different scenarios, different games, different situations. I don’t think or care if it’s going to be goal of the season. I am not playing to win awards or show people I can score that kind of goal.
It was a split-second thing. I wasn’t planning to shoot like that but the ball came there and I just took the decision, ‘OK, I have do the backheel’.
MKHITARYAN ON.. MINO RAIOLA, THE SUPER-AGENT HE SHARES WITH POGBA AND IBRAHIMOVIC
WE don’t have the relationship of agent-player, it is more like two friends or father-son. If I need something, I always ask him because he has big experience, even out of football. If I need advice, I go to him.
He always keeps saying to me, ‘If you are happy, I am happy. If you are not happy, I am not happy as well’.
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