Former Manchester United and Arsenal winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed the “grotesque” texts he received from Jose Mourinho that led to the pair’s feud.
Back in 2016, Mkhitaryan, now 36, joined Man United from Borussia Dortmund for a reported £26.4m, signing a four-year deal at Old Trafford.
The Armenian had earlier impressed with the Bundesliga outfit and arrived in England with a healthy reputation.
But his spell at United lasted just two years, with the 36-year-old registering 13 goals and 11 assists in 63 appearances for the Red Devils before joining Arsenal in 2018.
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And despite not reaching the heights expected of him at United, he left the club with two winners’ medals – from the 2017 League Cup final and 2017 Europa League final, during which he scored in a 2-0 win over Ajax.
But his time at United was marred by a feud with then-head coach Mourinho.
The winger, who is currently plying his trade at Serie A side Internazionale, has now opened up about his side of the story in his new book ‘My Life Always at the Centre’.
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"I told him, you've been criticising me for a year-and-a-half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United,” the Armenian wrote.
The winger then claimed that Mourinho told him he was “s***” and said this made him lose his temper.
He added: "Mou replied: ‘Get out of here, I never want to see you again.’
"During the training sessions, the coach said nothing to me; he remained at a religious level of silence, but every evening he’d send me a message via WhatsApp. ‘Miki, leave, please.’
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"The situation had become grotesque. I’d reply every time with the same copy-and-paste response. I will leave if I find the right team; otherwise, I’ll wait for the summer.”
The Inter man continued, and said that during the January transfer window, the Portuguese changed his text and instead of calling Mkhitaryan s***, he asked him to leave so he could sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal.
His agent was working on a deal which eventually saw Alexis move to United and Mkhitaryan transfer to Arsenal.
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The player added: “My response mutated too. ‘I am not leaving just to do you a favour, and please stop writing to me. If you want, talk to Mino [Raiola].’"
And it’s fair to say things worked out for Mkhitaryan following his ordeal at United as he has gone on to win multiple honours – including the 2021/2022 Conference League ironically with Mourinho as his coach.
During his time at Inter, he has twice finished as a runner-up in the Champions League, as well as won Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
Topics: Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Arsenal, Football, Premier League
Luke Davies