Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Biography

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Armenian: Հենրիխ Մխիթարյան; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Serie A 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's subsequent lukewarm form led him to sign for Arsenal in 2018, and then to Serie A club Roma on an initial loan. He signed permanently in 2020. 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 ten times, being awarded the distinction every year since 2009 (with the exception of 2010 and 2018). 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 post-Soviet countries.