Henrikh Mkhitaryan appears to have aimed a dig at Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho after revealing he is looking forward to playing ‘offensive football’ again after joining Arsenal.
The Armenia international is set to make his Arsenal debut in Tuesday’s Premier League clash with Swansea after joining from the Red Devils at the start of last week.
United used the 29-year-old in a deal to get Alexis Sanchez from Arsene Wenger’s side and now Mkhitaryan is now looking forward to playing with greater freedom on the pitch.
“Of course it’s very important to have respect from your manager,” he told Arsenal player, via Sky Sports. “I know he’s demanding and he likes his players to explore.
“He was one of the [reasons] to join Arsenal as well because everyone knows he’s a great manager.
“I’ve known him for a long time and of course it was not very difficult to make this decision to come to Arsenal, because I think the way that Arsenal play [makes] it a dream for every player to come here and play offensive football.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Manchester United in the Premier League this season:
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 30, 2018
Before September 1st:
Mins per key pass -- 19
Assists -- 5
Rating -- 8.49
After September 1st:
Mins per key pass -- 45.6
Assists -- 0
Rating -- 6.48
For more player stats -- https://t.co/mfzc6WvJ3Y pic.twitter.com/ZZjtYKAiUk
Wenger will be tasked with re-building Mkhitaryan’s confidence as his form dropped off a cliff towards the end of his spell at Old Trafford.
In fact, Mkhitaryan created a goalscoring opportunity every 19 minutes of Premier League action before September 1, registering five assists and garnering a WhoScored rating of 8.49 in that time.
Since then, however, he requires 45.6 minutes to register a key pass, has no assists and a WhoScored rating of 6.48.
