Mkhitaryan alleges Mourinho begged him to leave Man United and froze him out in training

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has alleged that during his Manchester United spell he was repeatedly pressed by Jose Mourinho to leave and was often frozen out in training, saying the criticism lasted for a year and a half. The Armenian midfielder, now a key figure at Inter Milan, recalled tense exchanges and a breakdown in communication that predated his 2018 exit. The claims reopen a familiar debate about Mourinho’s man-management at Old Trafford, even as supporters note United won the Europa League with Mkhitaryan contributing crucial goals. The discussion also revisits how the pair later coexisted at Roma before Mkhitaryan moved to Inter.

The controversy stems from newly surfaced remarks by Henrikh Mkhitaryan reflecting on his 2016–2018 Manchester United tenure under Jose Mourinho. The player recounts being marginalized in training and feeling persistently criticized, which he says contributed to his eventual departure. The topic has reignited public debate around Mourinho’s methods, Mkhitaryan’s role in a Europa League triumph, and the duo’s later overlap at Roma before the midfielder joined Inter Milan.

🚨🗣️ Henrikh Mkhitaryan confirmed how Jose Mourinho begged him several times to leave Manchester United, and refused to speak to him during training sessions:" He wrote of Mourinho: "I told him, you’ve been criticising me for a year-and-a-half now, ever since I arrived at

@UtdXclusive

Impact Analysis

Mkhitaryan’s account reopens a pivotal chapter in Manchester United’s post-Ferguson era, where man-management often overshadowed on-pitch structures. From a performance analytics standpoint, Mkhitaryan was a high-output chance creator at Borussia Dortmund who struggled to reproduce the same volume in the Premier League under Mourinho’s compact, risk-averse system. If communication truly broke down, it would help explain the gap between his Bundesliga metrics and his Old Trafford returns. Yet the same period also delivered tangible silverware: United won the Europa League, with Mkhitaryan scoring in the final, which Mourinho supporters cite as validation of his hard-edged approach.

For Mkhitaryan, the long arc is instructive. He rebuilt his platform at Roma and then at Inter Milan, where he has been an intelligent connector between midfield and attack, pressing diligently and timing late runs into the box. That career resurgence suggests the issue at United was as much about fit and role definition as it was about temperament. For Mourinho, now coaching Fenerbahçe, the episode will again polarize opinion: loyalists point to results and standards; critics emphasize relational friction and the cost in player buy-in.

Commercially, such narratives move sentiment around brands and legacies. United’s historical image as a club that nurtures expressive talent jars with stories of creative players feeling suffocated. Meanwhile, Inter benefit by association with Mkhitaryan’s renaissance, reinforcing their recruitment of experienced, tactically disciplined winners. Ultimately, the most enduring impact may be on how future stars weigh style, autonomy, and communication when choosing their next manager.

Reaction

Fan responses split sharply along familiar lines. Some question the plausibility, noting that Mourinho personally signed Mkhitaryan and later lifted the Europa League with him in the squad; they argue the manager simply refused to indulge inconsistency. Others counter that Mourinho has prior form with high-profile rifts, citing examples from his Manchester United tenure and beyond.

One camp frames the story as a critique of Mourinho’s aura: maybe he is not as special as once believed, and prolonged friction with creative profiles has become a pattern. Another set of supporters highlight that players often resist exits, complicating dressing-room dynamics, and they contend Mkhitaryan must share responsibility for a stalled chapter at Old Trafford. There is also a fact-checking thread, with users asking for full context, transcripts, or publication details before taking sides.

Interestingly, several fans recall that Mkhitaryan and Mourinho later coexisted at Roma, suggesting that personalities can realign under new competitive pressures and squad needs. Still, the more sensational claims — insults, cold shoulders in training, and late-night messages — generate the most engagement, with some labeling it raw gossip and others treating it as a window into elite football’s unforgiving culture. The overall mood: polarized, noisy, and primed for more receipts.

Social reactions

And Sanchez's body languageabsolutly stank the place-out & so what worked-out well did'nt it, Jose(not)

steve gaffney (@stevegaffney9)

Sounds like Mou was trying to save this man from Manchester United.

Himothy Escobar (@EverEsco21)

They were fine at roma

Wind (@Winmo18)

Prediction

Expect a second wave of coverage: outlets will seek longer-form context from Mkhitaryan — perhaps a full interview or publication extract — and Mourinho’s camp may respond indirectly, leaning on the Europa League success and the pair’s Roma coexistence to blunt the narrative. If Mourinho comments, he will likely pivot to performance standards and the necessity of hard decisions, framing discipline as non-negotiable.

Manchester United are unlikely to engage officially, but club-adjacent voices may surface to validate that creative players sometimes struggle under rigorous defensive structures. Former teammates and analysts could provide data-led contrasts between Mkhitaryan’s Dortmund, United, Roma, and Inter roles, showing how usage and autonomy changed outcomes.

At Inter, nothing material changes: Mkhitaryan remains central to Simone Inzaghi’s patterns — third-man runs, compact rest-defense, and experienced control in big moments. If anything, the publicity may further spotlight his late-career excellence. For Fenerbahçe and Mourinho, short-term turbulence in the discourse is likely, but results in Europe and the Süper Lig will quickly recalibrate the narrative. If his side keeps winning, the storm fades; if not, this episode will be folded into a broader critique of relational fatigue under Mourinho’s leadership.

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Conclusion

Mkhitaryan’s recollection is less a simple indictment than a study in football’s delicate chemistry. A high-functioning creator who thrived in Dortmund’s high-tempo fluency entered a Manchester United environment shaped by Mourinho’s risk control and defensive structure. The friction that followed, by his telling, spoke to misaligned expectations and a communication breakdown as much as to form or effort. Yet the period also produced a European trophy, complicating any one-dimensional reading.

His subsequent revival at Roma and then Inter underscores a timeless lesson: role clarity and manager alignment can resuscitate elite careers. Mkhitaryan’s veteran engine, tactical literacy, and off-ball timing have made him a leader in a title-winning Inter side, proving that fit and trust matter as much as raw talent. For Mourinho, the episode will be measured against his results. He remains a serial winner whose methods can exact a price in dressing-room harmony; whether that trade-off is worth it tends to be decided on the scoreboard.

In the end, the conversation belongs to football’s evolving culture: players increasingly articulate their experiences, fans demand receipts, and clubs are challenged to reconcile hard standards with human management. The truth, as usual, is layered — and still unfolding.