Manchester United spent £115.3m on midfield reinforcements over the summer. Much of that, 77.2% to be precise, came in the shape of the £89m capture of Paul Pogba, but Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who cost a paltry £26.3m, generated almost as much excitement at the time.However, the Armenia international has been somewhat forgotten in the months since his move from Dortmund to Manchester, with just 107 minutes of Premier League game time under his belt thus far.Injuries have played their part in this, but only one start (during the Manchester Derby, no less) hints that Jose Mourinho doesn’t fancy the 27-year-old, despite his frankly amazing formÂinÂthe Bundesliga.Mkhitaryan has spoken to Bild while away on international duty and declared that it remains his “dream†to be at Man United, and we at FootballFanCast believe he should be in the starting XI. Here are the stats to prove it…
Sheer creative numbers
As things stand, Man United are not the most effective team in the final third, and that may be down to the service being supplied to the forward players, mainly Zlatan Ibrahimovic. While Mourinho has rotated his options after seemingly growing frustrated with Wayne Rooney, Mkhitaryan has had to watch on from the outskirts, with Juan Mata and Paul Pogba both given opportunities in the ‘No.10’ role.
Neither have truly shone, but a quick glance at the Armenian’s numbers from last season (via Squawka) show that he’s perhaps the man for the job. Granted there are many caveats such as him having been playing in a different country in a different team with very different players around him, but it’s hard to argue with 0.48 assists-per-game, 2.16 key passes-per-game and 2.65 chances created-per-game.
His numbers have obviously dropped off this term given his lack of game time, but why sign him on the back of such returns and refuse to utilise him in his best position?
Goal issues
A quick glance at the Premier League table after eleven games gives a view of the problems at Man United. Indeed, the Red Devils possess a goal difference of just +3, which is some way shy of their title rivals Liverpool (+16), Chelsea (+17), Manchester City (+15) and Arsenal (+15), with even Spurs better off by six goals.
Delving a little further into the numbers shows that Man United’s deficiencies, in relation to the current top four, are a result of their lack of potency in front of goal, with their conceded records comparable, but their goals for return some eight shy of the lowest scorers, Arsenal (24) and a whopping 14 off table-topping Liverpool’s 30.
Mkhitaryan netted eleven for Dortmund in league action last term (0.35-per-game), and directly contributed to 26 goals for the Bundesliga team, which was 32% of their overall tally – the highest, at 82, in theÂGerman top flight.
Recent run
Outside of their season-opening three wins on the spin, Man United have managed just two victories in their last eight ties, with those coming against a Leicester side withÂone-and-a-half eyes on the Champions League and a Swansea outfit staring relegation square in the face. In their remaining six outings, Mourinho’s men have managed to find the net just three times, failing to beat Stoke and Burnley in the process.
Over the coming weeks, Man United face Arsenal, Feyenoord (Europa League) and West Ham – three tricky ties Mkhitaryan could have a huge impact in.
