Henrikh Mkhitaryan has opened up about his often turbulent relationships with past coaches, detailing a bitter falling out with Jose Mourinho during their time at Manchester United and the somewhat difficult departure of Simone Inzaghi from Inter. These insights come from his new autobiography, “La mia vita sempre al centro” (My life spent in the middle), which is being launched in Italy and has already generated significant media attention.
Mkhitaryan recounted his perspective on the events that led to a heated confrontation with Mourinho during their joint spell at Manchester United between 2016 and 2018.
Mkhitaryan`s Bitter Dispute with Mourinho
In his autobiography, Mkhitaryan reveals the intensity of their disagreement: “I told him, you’ve been criticising me for a year and a half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United.” When Mourinho retorted, calling him “s**t,” Mkhitaryan admits he lost his temper, firing back, “You are the s**t. An enormous one.” Mourinho`s immediate response was, “Get out of here, I never want to see you again.” Despite the silence during training, Mourinho would message him nightly via WhatsApp, urging, “Miki, leave, please.” Mkhitaryan described the situation as “grotesque,” consistently replying, “I will leave if I find the right team, otherwise I’ll wait for the summer.” The messages evolved in mid-January, with Mourinho stating, “Miki, please leave, that way I can get Alexis Sanchez.” With his agent, Mino Raiola, already working on a swap deal with Arsenal, Mkhitaryan`s reply also changed: “I am not leaving just to do you a favour, and please stop writing to me. If you want, talk to Mino.”
The transfer eventually went through, with Alexis Sanchez joining Manchester United and Mkhitaryan moving to Arsenal to continue his Premier League journey. Mkhitaryan light-heartedly concluded in his book, “And everyone lived happily ever after.”
Interestingly, Mkhitaryan and Mourinho had a brief reunion at Roma in the 2021-22 season, where they reportedly managed to overcome their past differences.
Subsequently, in 2022, Mkhitaryan joined Inter as a free agent and played under Simone Inzaghi. However, their relationship also experienced tension towards the end, particularly as Inzaghi secretly agreed to a move to Al-Hilal while publicly denying it.
Mkhitaryan stated: “The media claimed that Inzaghi was ready to sign for Al-Hilal, but he would not discuss it with us.” He noted that on June 4, Al-Hilal officially announced Simone Inzaghi as their new coach. Mkhitaryan then sent Inzaghi a message, expressing gratitude for their “wonderful” three years together. He concluded, “We are grown adults and, to be truthful, the split was not painless, especially the way it happened.”
Inzaghi reportedly attempted to bring some of his former Inter players to Al-Hilal, and Mkhitaryan confirmed that he himself had also received an offer from the Saudi Pro League.
However, Mkhitaryan clarified his stance: “I too received an offer from Saudi Arabia in 2024, but I was clear from the start, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I was at Inter.”
