Henrikh Mkhitaryan ‘baffled’ by Manchester United demotion as Jose Mourinho leaves him out of seven of last eight
HENRIKH MKHITARYAN is reportedly "baffled" at being left out in the cold by Jose Mourinho.
According to reports, the Armenian is worried he has become a victim of his manager's defensive methods and as done what has asked of him in his duties behind the ball.
Since the last international break, the 28-year-old has only been involved in 20 minutes of football in United's 1-0 win over Brighton at Old Trafford on November 25.
Then he has been out of the last five squad selections, with Jesse Lingard leapfrogging him in the pecking order and Juan Mata has also played in his spot.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Mkhitaryan thought he had hit a rich vein of form on international duty, where he scored two goals in two games.
He was seemingly all set to unleash that form on the Premier League, but was dropped from the squad for United's next game against Newcastle, which they won 4-1.
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There have been reports Mourinho could even sell Mkhitaryan to help fund a move for Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil, who is free to move for nothing next summer.
Clubs can negotiate with Ozil as of January and Mourinho could use that as motivation to former Dortmund man Mkhitaryan to do a better job.
TAKE THE MKHI Jose Mourinho will have to offload Henrikh Mkhitaryan if he wants to land Mesut Ozil
It was no coincidence that the attacking midfielder's form tailed off following the injury to Paul Pogba earlier in the season.
But now Pogba is back fit - but suspended for one more game - suggesting that maybe Mourinho should give Mkhitaryan another shot.