Manchester United are ready to give the Premier League title a completely fresh and strong go this season having procured the services of some of the best personnel in world football. While Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimović will have their one effect on the club, one Henrikh Mkhitaryan may just turn out to be the most important part of their title charge this season. The new manager at Old Trafford bought in the Armenian international for a bargain price of just £26.3m mainly because the winger had just a year left on his contract and will be hoping that he will carry his form from the Bundesliga to Premier League next season.
He was one of the best attacking players last season in the domestic leagues in Europe according to numbers as he registered 16 goals and 15 assists in 39 games for the Bundesliga outfit in all competitions. He is a versatile player who is comfortable in every position in the attacking half of the field and has excelled in every position in the final third in Tomas Tuchel’s exciting project at Dortmund. He is an excellent passer of the ball and his vision is exemplary. He has always been a decent midfielder but he blossomed in the free roaming role he played for the German side in the last season.
He has the ability to open a defence up and is a great exponent of any kind of free space in the attacking half. At Dortmund, the manager got the team playing a dominating brand of football where they were able to play a patient and creative game thanks to the technical ability of their midfilders and defenders. The front three of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were too hot to handle for even the best of teams in the Bundesliga as the trio managed to synchronise to such an extent that it was close to impossible to break them down. However, at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho, Mkhitaryan will probably be used mainly on the right side of attack with Zlatan Ibrahimović as the striker and Anthony Martial attacking from the right.
He will not be given such a free role in the side but he will not back away from exploiting space even in the midfield. The manager will want his team to be compact when defending and would want the team to build an understanding that will help them break the opponents when in possession of the ball. With so many changes in the side, it will be slightly hard for them to get their combinations right and this is where Mkhitaryan will be a great asset for the Red Devils.
His form will make sure that he allows his team-mates to settle into the season and with the likes of Zlatan and Wayne Rooney alongside, the versatile Mkhitaryan may even perform better than in the previous season. Mourinho will surely play to the strengths of the star players in the squad and will have the Armenian play a huge role in his adventure at Old Trafford. However, we will have to wait and see until the end of the season if Mkhitaryan can replicate or even better his form from Borussia Dortmund.
