Mourinho begged me — Mkhitaryan reveals what truly happened in the Alexis Sanchez swap deal

Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has shed light on what transpired between him and Jose Mourinho leading to the infamous swap deal between Arsenal and Manchester United, which involved the Armenian and Alexis Sanchez. 

Mkhitaryan joined the Red Devils in 2016, and after two years at the club, he was swapped with Alexis Sanchez in a deal which took him to Arsenal. 

The 36-year-old is about to release his autobiography titled ‘La mia vita sempre al centro’ (My life spent in the middle), and one of the excerpts teased so far detailed his travails with Mourinho. 

According to the Armenian football legend, he suffered two years of abuse under Mourinho at Manchester United. He said he tried to fight back, and their relationship further deteriorated. 

“I told him, ‘You’ve been criticising me for a year and a half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United,” Mkhitaryan said in his book, per Calciomercato. “Mourinho told me I was ‘s**t’, and I just lost my temper. ‘You are the s**t. An enormous one.’

“Mou replied: ‘Get out of here; I never want to see you again.’ 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 Red Devils have had a long-standing interest in Sanchez, and according to Henrikh, Jose saw the opportunity and pleaded with him to leave, so the Chilean could arrive. 

“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. ‘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.’

Mourinho eventually got his wish, and a swap deal happened. However, the deal, in retrospect, is viewed as one of the worst in Premier League history, as neither team got the best version of either player. 

Mkhitaryan left Arsenal after two years, managing nine goals and 13 assists. Sánchez, on the other hand, had five goals and nine assists before he was shipped off on loan to Inter the following season, a move which was eventually made permanent.