Mkhitaryan reveals ugly Mourinho row and ‘not painless’ Inzaghi split

Henrikh Mkhitaryan looks over his at times fractious relationships with coaches, including an increasingly bitter breakdown with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, and the end of Simone Inzaghi’s Inter tenure.

The midfielder is launching a new autobiography in Italy, called ‘La mia vita sempre al centro’ (My life spent in the middle), and different extracts are hitting the headlines.

He gave his version of the events that lead up to his ugly clash with Mourinho when they at Manchester United from 2016 to 2018.

Mkhitaryan row with Mourinho turned nasty

Inter Milan’s Armenian midfielder #22 Henrikh Mkhitaryan fights for the ball with Cagliari’s Angolan forward #77 Zito Luvumbo (R) during the Italian Serie A football match between Inter Milan and Cagliari at San Siro Stadium in Milan, on April 14, 2024. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

“I told him, you’ve been criticising me for a year and a half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United,” wrote Mkhitaryan in his book.

“Mourinho told me I was ‘s**t’ and I just lost my temper. ‘You are the s**t. An enormous one.’

“Mou replied: ‘Get out of here, I never want to see you again.’ During the training sessions, the coach said nothing to me, he remained at a religious level of silence, but every evening he’d send me a message via WhatsApp. ‘Miki, leave, please.’

“The situation had become grotesque. I’d reply every time with the same copy and paste response. I will leave if I find the right team, otherwise I’ll wait for the summer. Towards the middle of January, the text changed slightly. ‘Miki, please leave, that way I can get Alexis Sanchez.’

“Mino Raiola was working on this exchange with Arsenal. So my response mutated too. ‘I am not leaving just to do you a favour, and please stop writing to me. If you want, talk to Mino.’”

The exchange was eventually completed, with Alexis Sanchez coming to Manchester United, and Mkhitaryan continuing his Premier League career at Arsenal.

“And everyone lived happily ever after,” joked the Armenian in his book.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – MAY 31: Jose Mourinho, Head Coach of AS Roma reacts after the UEFA Europa League 2022/23 final match between Sevilla FC and AS Roma at Puskas Arena on May 31, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Curiously, Mkhitaryan and Mourinho were reunited briefly at Roma in 2021-22, but managed to put their previous ugly row behind them.

The player then moved to Inter as a free agent in 2022 and worked with Simone Inzaghi, although there was some tension here too towards the end when the coach had agreed a move to Al-Hilal, even if he kept publicly denying it.

“The media claimed that Inzaghi was ready to sign for Al-Hilal, but he would not discuss it with us. On June 4, Al-Hilal officially announced their new coach: Simone Inzaghi. I sent him a message, thanking him for three years together, which were wonderful.

“We are grown adults and, to be truthful, the split was not painless, especially the way it happened.”

Inter Milan’s Italian coach Simone Inzaghi speaks to Inter Milan’s Armenian midfielder #22 Henrikh Mkhitaryan (L) during the Italian Serie A football match between Inter Milan and Atalanta in Milan, on February 28, 2024. (Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP) (Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images)

Inzaghi tried to sign some of his former Inter players for Al-Hilal, and Mkhitaryan confirms that he too had considered the Saudi Pro League.

“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.”