Graeme Souness has backed Henrikh Mkhitaryan to bounce back from a disappointing debut season and have a “great year” at Manchester United.
The Armenian playmaker showed only occasional glimpses of what he could do as he failed to leave up to his £37million transfer fee following his summer 2016 switch from Borussia Dortmund.
But Sky Sports pundit Souness is convinced that Mkhitaryan, 28, will be a different proposition in 2017-18 after watching him in action in Sunday’s 4-0 triumph over West Ham.
The attacking midfielder played 89 minutes of the clash as a dominant United laid down a title marker that had the former Liverpool and Newcastle United manager drooling.
“If you go through Manchester United’s squad, they have a great goalkeeper, defensively they are solid and powerful, they have great size throughout the team and they have young guys like Rashford and Martial, and I don’t think we have seen the best of Henrikh Mkhitaryan yet either,” Souness told Sky Sports 1’s live coverage of the match, as quoted by their website.
“He came with a big reputation but wasn’t at it last year. I expect him to have a great year.
“The manager has big decisions to make if everyone is fit. He has genuine quality to pick from.”
Mkhitaryan scored 11 goals and supplied five assists in 41 United appearances last season but struggled to get in the team in the first half of the campaign and his best performances were saved for the Europa League, where he scored six of his goals.
OPINION
There is no doubting the talent or pedigree of Mkhitaryan. Technically outstanding, mobile and capable of the truly spectacular, he can create and score goals for fun. The question mark hanging over him last season surrounded his fitness and willingness to do the donkey work that Jose Mourinho demands of all his players. His selection against the Hammers, ahead of the likes of Antony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Ander Herrera, shows he had knuckled down in pre-season and demonstrated his capacity to do what his manager wants. Souness is right. Mkhitaryan should be one of the standard bearers of the new United. He is certainly up to it.