Mkhitaryan and Mourinho Conflict: WhatsApp Story to Exchange to Arsenal

Gilabola.com – Henrikh Mkhitaryan finally revealed the story of his feud with Jose Mourinho which peaked during his career at Manchester United, and this incident he said triggered his move to Arsenal.

He said that Mourinho had repeatedly told him to leave via WhatsApp messages, until exchange talks with Alexis Sanchez emerged.

Even though the two figures later reunited in Rome and achieved success, the past conflict is still remembered as an important part of Mkhitaryan’s career.

Mkhitaryan said that, after moving from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United in 2016, he initially played quite often. In his first season he appeared in 41 matches and scored 11 goals, but the situation worsened when Mourinho started criticizing him openly. The criticism eventually escalated into an intense verbal altercation.

In his autobiographical book My Life Always at the Centre, Mkhitaryan revealed that he felt harassed from the start of his tenure at United. He said that Mourinho often called him ‘shit’, until finally he got emotional and responded to the criticism. The confrontation prompted Mourinho to openly ask Mkhitaryan to leave the squad.

According to Mkhitaryan, during training sessions Mourinho often did not speak to him at all, but every night sent messages via WhatsApp asking him to leave.

The message from the Portuguese manager finally changed to, “Miki, please go, so I can get Alexis Sanchez.” Of course, this adds mental pressure to the player.

Mkhitaryan said that he had repeatedly answered Mourinho’s messages with the same response: that he would not leave just to please the coach, and that if he wanted to talk, he could talk to his agent, Mino Raiola. Slowly, the situation evolved into three parties: players, coaches, and agents.

This conflict finally found a bright spot when a swap deal was offered in January 2018: Mkhitaryan to Arsenal and Sanchez to Manchester United.

Even though this move was considered controversial, Mkhitaryan admitted that during the process he maintained professionalism and waited for the right moment to continue his career.

Even though his career at United ended bitterly, Mkhitaryan and Mourinho worked together again at AS Roma with quite successful results. At the Italian club, he played 44 times and helped the team win the Europa Conference League trophy in the 2021/22 season under Mourinho’s leadership.

Mkhitaryan said that even though their conflict was a negative part of his career, he was still grateful for the support and motivation that Mourinho gave him while at Roma. He admitted that the challenges with his coach made him mentally stronger.

In an Instagram post when he left Roma to join Inter Milan in 2022, Mkhitaryan said that he had given everything for the club, and expressed his gratitude to Mourinho and the club for the opportunity they had been given. He calls his time in Rome a separate chapter in his life.

He also emphasized that success with Roma—including trophies—was a sweet ending to his difficult period with Mourinho in England. After many years, he and the coach managed to rebuild mutual respect in a professional context.