Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed he once called Jose Mourinho an "enormous s***" during a text message battle at Manchester United. The midfielder struggled to impress the Portuguese manager and eventually left for Arsenal before departing England for good.
Mkhitaryan's old clubs, Manchester United and Roma, meet in the Champions League at Old Trafford. The 37-year-old enjoyed more success with the Red Devils, winning the Europa League and two domestic trophies, but his time in Manchester proved harder to handle.
Fallout with the 'Special One'
Mkhitaryan had impressed at Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund before arriving in the Premier League. He joined United around the same time as Mourinho but did not get along with the 'Special One.'
He said: "I told him, you've been criticising me for a year and a half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United. Mourinho told me I was s*** and I just lost my temper: 'You are the s***. An enormous one.'"
Mourinho responded by telling Mkhitaryan: "Get out of here, I never want to see you again."
Text message battle
The midfielder added: "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. [Mourinho said] '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.' And everyone lived happily ever after."
Swap deal aftermath
Mkhitaryan and Sanchez did make the switch between the Premier League rivals. At Arsenal, the Armenia international appeared 59 times and made 22 goal contributions.
Sanchez racked up 45 appearances for United, scoring five goals and assisting nine times, before being loaned to Inter Milan and eventually leaving for Italy on a free transfer. Mkhitaryan also headed to Italy on a free, joining Roma and winning the first-ever Conference League under Mourinho.
