Manchester United: Why underrated midfielder will be the most important player

Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be the most important player for Jose Mourinho’s team this season.

The Armenian attacking midfielder had a difficult start to his Manchester United career after arriving from Borussia Dortmund for £30 million.

Mourinho banished him to the sidelines after a dismal performance against Manchester City earlier on in the 2016/17 season.

But, near the end of last season as United came to grips with Mourinho’s style, the 28-year-old began to justify his high price tag after a number of great performances.

So far this season, the Armenian wizard has conjured up four assists in two appearances which is a ridiculous return.

Mkhitaryan has a history of taking a long time to settle at a club. He struggled in his first two seasons at Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp. He scored 13 goals and made 10 assists in his first season and five goals and made seven assists in his second.

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His third season in 2015/16 under new coach Thomas Tuchel was when he really shined after scoring a staggering 23 goals and making 32 assists in all competitions.

It seems the Armenian is a slow starter and now in his second season at United, he has finally settled and has his confidence back.

So far, in two appearances, he has a 90.3 per cent pass accuracy, has made 4.5 key passes per game and 2.5 successful dribbles per game (Whoscored).

It seems Mkhitaryan is a confidence player. Meaning, he thrives on the pitch when he has confidence and form. This is when he’s at his best, creating goals and scoring them. However, the downside of that is, he could potentially lose his confidence during the season and may not produce the same results.

However, Mourinho is an adept manager and should be able to manage his confidence levels accordingly.

Mourinho, in fact, recently admitted that there was a communication breakdown which resulted in Mkhitaryan’s slow start.

"‘In the beginning of last season if he understands me better, he would have started better.‘But at the same time, if I understood him better, I would probably have helped him in a faster way than I did.‘But we spent our time together, working together, learning each other.‘The second part of last season was good for him and I believe with his talent that this season is going to be even better.’"

With new signing Nemanja Matic behind him and Paul Pogba helping out, Mkhitaryan has managed to find his best form for the club. Matic allows the Armenian to stay forward in attacking spaces and to focus on creating. While Pogba can roam and set up Mkhitaryan with an adept pass to set him free.

Additionally, with a younger faster striker in Romelu Lukaku as the front man, Mkhitaryan can slide in through balls to the big Belgian to latch onto.

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Last season, he had a 35-year-old striker who was about as fast as John Terry. The Armenian wizard should be able to create a lot more chances and assists with Lukaku up front.

While Lukaku and Pogba will get all the headlines for scoring goals, it will be Mkhitaryan who will be the most important, and productive player for Manchester United.

And provided he doesn’t have any injury set-backs he should be among the league’s top assist makers come the end of the season.