Henrik Mkhitaryan

Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( ; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Inter Milan.

Mkhitaryan won four Armenian Premier League titles with Pyunik, and joined Metalurh Donetsk in 2009; he moved to city rivals Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010 for €6.1 million. At Shakhtar, Mkhitaryan set the league goalscoring record in the 2012–13 season, and was named the league's Footballer of the Year. After also winning three domestic doubles, he signed for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund for a club-record fee of €27.5 million, making him the most expensive Armenian player of all time.

There, he won a DFL-Supercup in 2014, and in the following campaign, registered the most assists in the Bundesliga, with 15, the second most in Europe. He then joined Manchester United for £30 million (€34.3 million), becoming the first Armenian to play in the Premier League. He won the FA Community Shield, and scored the winner to win the UEFA Europa League title. Mkhitaryan was then signed by Arsène Wenger for Arsenal in a swap-deal including Alexis Sánchez in 2018, and then to Serie A club Roma on an initial loan, where he signed permanently in 2020 before joining Internazionale in 2022.

Mkhitaryan was a member of the senior side in his native country from 2007 until his international retirement in 2022. He is Armenia's all-time top goalscorer, scoring 32 goals in 95 matches, as well as registering their first hat-trick. He has been named Armenian Footballer of the Year twelve times, including seven years consecutively from 2011 to 2017. Mkhitaryan was also voted the CIS Footballer of the Year in 2012 and 2013, making him the first Armenian footballer to be named the best player from the post-Soviet countries.

Early life

Mkhitaryan was born on 21 January 1989 in the Soviet Armenian capital city of Yerevan to Marina Taschyan and Hamlet Mkhitaryan. His father was a prominent striker for FC Ararat Yerevan during the 1980s, who died of a brain tumor at age 33 when Henrikh was seven years old. Marina Taschyan's mother was Russian from Moscow.

The death of his father impacted Mkhitaryan significantly. He feels that if his father was still alive that "everything would be different." He gave him useful advice from a professional point of view. People who have watched Mkhitaryan and his father, say that their styles resemble each other very much. He has said, "I believe he sees me and is proud of me..." His mother is the head of the national teams department in the Armenian Football Federation and his elder sister, Monika, works at UEFA's headquarters.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the Mkhitaryan family moved to France, where Hamlet Mkhitaryan played for the now defunct ASOA Valence and helped them to be promoted to the second division. Mkhitaryan spent his early childhood in Valence. He always wanted to become a football player and began to follow in his father's footsteps. As a child, he would watch his father play and always wanted to follow him to training. The Mkhitaryans returned to Yerevan in 1995. In the same year, Mkhitaryan joined the youth system of FC Pyunik. He graduated from the Institute of Physical Culture in Armenia. He studied economics at the Yerevan branch of the St. Petersburg Institute. Upon graduation, he planned to study there as a lawyer. In 2003, at the age of 14, Mkhitaryan had trials with São Paulo in Brazil where he played alongside the likes of Hernanes and Oscar. He returned to Pyunik in 2004, then manager Mihai Stoichiță insisted on his return to Armenia. Growing up, Mkhitaryan considered Zinedine Zidane his football idol.

Club career

Pyunik

Mkhitaryan joined the FC Pyunik youth system in 1995 and received his first salary at the age of 15. He was later promoted to the first team of FC Pyunik, making his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 17. He last played for the club in the 2009 season. During that season he scored 11 league goals in 10 league games. In his four seasons in the Pyunik first team, they won the Armenian Premier League on four occasions (2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). They also won the Armenian Supercup twice (2007 and 2009) and the Armenian Cup once (2009). Armenia national football team and Pyunik head coach Vardan Minasyan admitted that he would love to see his star player "playing in a stronger league." Minasyan stated young Henrikh was well on his way to becoming a legend in his own right. He said of Mkhitaryan, "He can win games on his own. He seizes control at the crucial moment and scores for fun."

Due to his success in the 2009 Armenian Premier League at FC Pyunik, he joined Ukrainian Premier League club Metalurh Donetsk.

Metalurh Donetsk

Mkhitaryan joined Metalurh Donetsk in 2009. He scored a goal on his debut in a 3–0 victory against Belarusian Premier League side FC Partizan Minsk, in the Europa League on 16 July 2009. On 19 July 2009, he made his league debut in a 0–0 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. His first league goal came in a 2–2 draw with Karpaty Lviv on 26 July 2009. On 6 August 2009, he scored the first goal in a 3–0 second leg Europa League win against Slovenian club Interblock Ljubljana, winning 5–0 on aggregate.

The following season he was named captain of the club on 14 July 2010, at the age 21, making him the youngest captain in Metalurh Donetsk history. He scored his first goal of the season, an 89th-minute penalty, in a 3–0 victory over Obolon Kyiv on 16 July 2010. He played his final match for the club in a 2–1 win against Dnipro on 30 August 2010. In his second season, he played eight matches and scored three goals, all of which were in the league. He made 37 league appearances during his time at Metalurh, scoring 12 goals. In total he played 45 matches for the club, scoring 16 times.

Shakhtar Donetsk

2010–13: League wins and Golden Boot

On 30 August 2010, he sealed a $7.5 million switch to reigning Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk. Before signing with Shakhtar, Mkhitaryan was in trial with Iran Pro League side Mes Kerman which he was rejected by head coach Samad Marfavi. His debut came on 10 September 2010 in a 1–0 away league defeat to Obolon Kyiv, being replaced after 62 minutes by Eduardo. His home debut was more successful, with Shakhtar coming back from a goal behind to win 4–1 against Tavriya Simferopol on 19 September 2010. He scored his first goal for the club in this match. Three days later he made his first appearance in the Ukrainian Cup, netting the second goal in a 6–0 win over Kryvbas. On 25 September 2010, he scored a late injury time winner in a 2–1 away victory over Metalist Kharkiv. He made his European debut for the club in the Champions League on 28 September 2010 against Sporting Braga winning 3–0. He made an appearance in the 2–0 Ukrainian Cup Final victory against Dynamo Kyiv, coming on in the 81st minute in place of Jádson. His first season with the club was extremely successful for Shakhtar as they won the treble (Premier League, Ukrainian Cup and the Super Cup).

In the 2011–12 season Shakhtar won the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup. Mkhitaryan scored the third goal in a 4–0 win against Obolon Kyiv in his first league match of the season. On 4 March 2012, he scored the equalizing goal in a 1–1 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. He scored the only goal in a cup victory over Metalurh Zaporizhya on 11 April 2012. On 6 May 2012, he played a part in Shakhtar's 2–1 extra time victory over his former team Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Final, coming off after 62 minutes for Douglas Costa. In an online poll on Shakhtar Donetsk's official website, Mkhitaryan was voted as the best player of Shakhtar in 2011–12 Premier League season with about 38% of total votes. He scored 11 goals in 37 matches, including 10 goals in 26 league matches. Shakhtar retained the Premier League and the Ukrainian Cup in the 2011–12 season.

Mkhitaryan played in Shakhtar's 2–0 2012 Super Cup victory over Metalurh Donetsk. In his first match of the 2012–13 Premier League season, he scored twice and provided two assists in a 6–0 season opening victory against Arsenal Kyiv. He managed a hat-trick against Chornomorets Odesa

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