Henrikh Mkhitaryan is being excluded from Manchester United’s matchday squads as Jose Mourinho wants a balanced bench.
The Armenian yet again failed to warrant a place in Manchester United’s 18-man squad, this time for the 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
The midfielder has now been excluded entirely for seven of the last eight Manchester United games.
It’s raised serious concerns about the future of the former Borussia Dortmund player, who started the season in blistering form with five assists in the first few matches.
Speaking after the win over Bournemouth, Mourinho explained his decision.
‘I can only have six players on the bench and I try to have some balance on the bench,’ said the Portuguese coach.
‘I had two defenders that can play in different areas, I have Ashley Young to cover the wing and wing backs position, [Ander] Herrera is a midfield player, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] is a striker, [Marcus] Rashford is a second striker and a winger.
‘To have Mkhitaryan means I don’t have one of them and I believe the others deserve.’
Mourinho’s frank admission that he believes other players warrant a place ahead of him suggests Mkhitaryan has a battle on his hands to get back into the squad.
Mkhitaryan’s last start was the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea at the start of November with his only other appearance since then off the bench against Brighton at the end of November.
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