Thursday 7 July 2016

United sign Mkhitaryan for an undisclosed fee

United have signed Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund on a three year deal.

The 27 year old national captain becomes Jose Mourinho's third signing as Reds boss and joins the Old Trafford club for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £20 million.

Voted last season's Player of the Year in the German top flight, Mkhitaryan (Mik-a-tar-ian) can play anywhere in a front three and scored 23 goals- with 31 assists- in an outstanding campaign last term. 

He is very much in the United mould: all-action, box to box, strong in the tackle and exceptionally quick.
He's not afraid to shirk defensive responsibility either, a key blueprint for a Mourinho side and the fact that his impressive stats came from the wide positions was not lost on his new manager. 


"Henrikh is a superbly creative player with great skill, vision and a good eye for goal, I am delighted he has chosen to sign for United and we are all looking forward to working with him"
"He is a fantastic player and I like even more the fact that he scores and assists a lot of goals despite not being a striker" said Mourinho. 


Mkhitaryan began his career in his homeland with FC Pyunik after rising through the ranks before a move to Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk followed in 2010.

Capped by his national side at 18 years of age- he has 60 Albania appearance in total- Mkhitaryan quickly attracted the attentions of Ukraine's biggest club Shakhtar, who signed him for $7.5 million a year later.

A league champion during his time at the Donbass Arena, it was at Dortmund that Mkhitaryan really forged his reputation, however.
Despite a number of high profile departures and a solitary German Cup on the honours board, his explosive link-up play with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang caught the eye last season


Having been signed by Jurgen Klopp in 2013 for £23.5 million, Mkhitaryan was in the last year of his contract and made 140 appearances for Dortmund, scoring 40 goals. 

It looks likely that he will operate from the right of a front three for United. 

Mourinho's insistence that Wayne Rooney's future does not lie any deeper than a No.10 indicates he'll be in behind Zlatan, with Martial on the left and new man Mkhitaryan on the right. 

He described the move to Old Trafford as a "dream come true", and said:

"I am very proud and excited to play for a club with such an illustrious history and hope to be part of that history for a long time.
"It is a dream come true and I thank the trust shown in me by Jose Mourinho."












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