Mkhitaryan: I told Mourinho he was an 'enormous s***' before Arsenal move

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed he told Jose Mourinho to get out of his life after a WhatsApp row that led to his swap for Alexis Sanchez. The Mirror reported ^[1] that the Armenian international lost his temper and called the Portuguese manager an "enormous s***" during their time at Manchester United.

The confrontation occurred after Mourinho repeatedly criticised the midfielder. Mkhitaryan stated: "I told him, you’ve been criticising me for a year and a half now... Mourinho told me I was s* and I just lost my temper: 'You are the s*. An enormous one.'" According to the Mirror ^[1], Mourinho responded by telling Mkhitaryan to leave and never return.

Despite the verbal explosion, the tension continued via text. Mkhitaryan said Mourinho sent nightly messages saying, "Miki, leave, please." The situation escalated when Mourinho wrote, "Miki, please leave, that way I can get Alexis Sanchez." Mkhitaryan replied, "If you want, talk to Mino," referring to agent Mino Raiola.

The exchange eventually led to Mkhitaryan joining Arsenal and Sanchez moving to Old Trafford. The Mirror ^[1] noted that Mkhitaryan made 22 goal contributions in 59 games for the Gunners, while Sanchez managed just five goals for United before leaving for Inter Milan. Interestingly, Mkhitaryan later won the Conference League with Roma, ironically under the management of Mourinho, the man who caused him such grief in England.

This revelation comes as Manchester United host Roma in the Champions League. The BBC reported ^[2] that United staged a dramatic comeback to beat Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford. Trailing 2-0 after 17 minutes, captain Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot. Matheus Cunha then scored twice in three minutes to complete the turnaround.

The victory provided a crucial boost for manager Michael Carrick, whose job was in doubt after a nine-game winless run. The BBC ^[2] highlighted the match as one of the great Champions League comebacks, alongside Tottenham’s 2019 win over Ajax and Liverpool’s 2019 triumph against Barcelona.