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Is it just me or does anyone else hate when people post a link instead of just copy n pasting the damn thing? lol
 
Hah - I was starting to think that being linked to so many players was a ploy to confuse Spurs scouts.
 
Where exactly does this guy play normally?
 
http://www.skysports.com/looktothefuture/story/0,28751,19722_6430961,00.html

2010 scout report:

Henrikh-Mkhitaryan-Sky-Sports-Scout-800_2506113.jpg


A very good young player, who if he progresses as he has done in recent years, will surely have some of Europe's giants come calling in the not too distant future.

Will be interesting to see how much of an impact he can make with Shakthar in the coming 12-months.

Current value: £7million

Potential value: £20million
Click to expand...

Fulfilling his potential it seems.
 
John Bradley ‏@JBcommentator
3h​
Having watched Henrikh Mkhitaryan grow as a person and a player at Shakhtar Donetsk, I will dance a jig if he signs for Liverpool

John Bradley ‏@JBcommentator
3h​
Right, here's the lowdown. Henrikh is a classic number 10 who makes Scholes like late runs into the penalty area and scores bundles of goals

John Bradley ‏@JBcommentator
3h​
When Jadson left Shakhtar they asked him to suggest replacement, he said noone Henrikh is already better than me, said he's world class

John Bradley ‏@JBcommentator
3h​
Henrikh is a player who plays well between the lines, his work rate and attitude are phenomenal. He'd be a great addition to any squad

John Bradley ‏@JBcommentator
3h​
I wouldn't worry about him adapting to England either, Henrikh is fluent in 5 or 6 languages including English. He's very intelligent !
 
I'm not sure what I was watching, espn I think and I heard someone describe him as a 'flake' who isn't fussed where he goes as long as he's well paid. Which doesn't sound particularly flattering, the above sounds much better.
 
Last Sunday just a bit more than 66,000 football fans gathered to watch another Ukrainian derby between the country’s biggest two clubs Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk at NSC Olimpiyskiy. It was another victory for Shakhtar in the Clásico – fifth in a row. It was another fantastic performance from that man again – Henrikh Hamletovich Mkhitaryan. Standard.

The Shakhtar boss, Mircea Lucescu, firmly believes that there can’t be any leaders in a team, instead the team leads itself. However, it would be silly to deny that Henrikh Mkhitaryan has become the focal figure of the Ukrainian side this season.

Born in 1989, in the capital city of Armenia, Henrikh spent first few years of his life in southeast of France where his father played as a striker for the local side Valence. Sadly, Mkhitaryan Sr. had passed away of brain tumor when his son was only seven, and the family had to return home. It was then Henrikh decided to follow the dad’s path and joined the Yerevan-based football club Pyunik. In 2003 he was invited to have a four-month long trial at the Brazilian club São Paulo where he trained alongside the likes of Hernanes and Diego Tardelli, currently of Lazio and Atlético Mineiro respectively. Three years later Henrikh Mkhitaryan made his first team debut for Pyunik at the age of 17. He would go on to make another 69 appearances for the club and score 30 goals. This ability to score goals from midfield would soon attract interest of clubs such as Lyon, Lille, Dynamo Kyiv, Lokomotiv Moscow and even Boca Juniors.

However, due to a good relationship with the then coach Nikolay Kostov, the promising Armenian youngster was persuaded to join Metalurg Donetsk in 2009. The adaptation to a new country and more competitive football league went surprisingly smooth and he soon became the team captain, aged only 21 – the youngest captain in club history. Mkhitaryan played 46 times for the club scoring17 goals and making 11 assists. It soon became obvious that in order to progress his career Mkhitaryan had to move to bigger things and in 2010 another Donetsk club, Shakhtar, agreed a €6 million transfer fee for the 21-year-old midfielder.

At that point Lucescu admitted that he had been tracking the Armenian for more than three years, since his Pyunik days. Upon arriving to the Donetsk club, Mkhitaryan was mainly deployed as a holding or central midfielder by the Romanian specialist. His functions included mainly defensive contributions but also initiation of attacks. It took a bit of time before Mkhitaryan mastered the new position, understandably, as he spent most of his career at the offensive end of midfield. Lucescu recalls that “it wasn’t easy for him from the start, but his integration was sped up by his high level of football intelligence.” The defensive position has only improved the footballer. The new responsibilities have helped him improve his positional and tactical awareness, ability to read the game as well as the physical side of his game – something which was lacking before.

Despite operating deeper than usual for first two seasons, Henrikh still managed to contribute to 26 goals in all club competitions, assisting his teammates 11 times and scoring 15 of them himself. The number of goals scored could have been even higher but for poor conversion rate – it was another weakness the player was rightly criticised for at the time.

The turning point in Mkhitaryan’s career at Shakhtar Donetsk came in January of 2012. The fan favourite attacking midfielder Jádson had to return back to Brazil for family reasons and the Ukrainian club were forced to accept a €4 million bid from São Paulo. It was thought to be a huge loss as the Brazilian magician became so important to the way the team played and was central to success achieved in last seven years by the club.

However, Mr. Lucescu was confident that the Armenian versatile midfielder would be more than able to fill the gap left by Jádson. He moved Mkhitaryan further up the pitch to play in the position behind the striker(s) but also asked him to track back and press opposition players when the team is defending. And it worked. The 24-year-old has been on fire thus far scoring 21 and assisting 5 goals in just 22 league appearances this season. He only needs two more goals to break record for most goals in a Ukrainian season currently held by Sergey Rebrov and Maxim Shackikh (He has since broken the record with 25 goals). The difference is that the current record holders, unlike Mkhitaryan, were strikers.

It should be mentioned though that ability to score goals is not the only valuable asset of this player. According to his manager, Henrikh is very similar to Kaká as he possesses fantastic technique, speed, great passing ability, outstanding vision and creativity. Rather interestingly, Mkhitaryan also wears a shirt with number 22 on the back as the Brazilian used to do during his prime time at Milan. Owing to determination to work hard for his teammates and desire to improve every aspect of his own game, Henrikh Mkhitaryan has become an inspirational leader and the engine of the Donetsk club.

Apart from his club career, Henrikh has also excelled in the national team shirt. Having represented and captained Armenia from U17 level, Mkhitaryan made his full national debut in 2007. In 36 other matches he played for the national team, Mkhitaryan scored 10 goals – only two away from becoming the all-time top scorer of his country. He was voted best Armenian footballer on three occasions in last four years, missing out on the award only in 2010.

He has received a lot of praise for his performances both for club and country but undoubtedly the highest praise came when the Azzurri defeated Armenia in a World Cup-2014 Qualification game. After the match, Cesare Prandelli said:

“For me, he was the stand-out performance today. He ran his socks off and scored a fantastic solo goal. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a footballer who has quality to fit in any leading European national football team.”

His football might have attracted scouts from top European clubs – such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid – but, off the pitch, Henrikh Mkhitaryan remains to be a down-to-earth guy. With the annual salary of “only” €276,000, he must be one of the most underpaid talented footballers in the world. However, this might change if one of the aforementioned clubs decide to meet his release clause of €30 million this or next summer.

He’s an intelligent young man as well – someone who enjoys reading books especially those of Paulo Coelho, or so he claims. In addition, he speaks five languages including English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and of course Armenian. Having graduated from Institute of Physical Education in Armenia, he is currently studying Economics in a Saint Petersburg university. The next aim is to apply for a law degree in the same university.

Unusual footballer, isn’t he?
Click to expand...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME1LtU3Ef-U\

The solo goal that Prandelli mentioned:

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-A4TvVf-qQ
 
Binny said:
I will be even more reliant on copy and paste if we sign both Mkhitaryan and Papadopoulos.
Click to expand...

We should be calling them Micky and the new Greek, or at least have the forum auto replace those two with the real names.
 
Two positives from the reports linking him with us are the claims that

- we're not deterred by the price tag
- our interest independent of Suarez's potential exit

I'd think (1) we may have a bigger transfer kitty than what was originally mentioned by the press, even before sales and

(2) we are ready to spend on top targets/proven talents - ok, Ukraine league is no like Bundesliga, Serie A or La Liga but Shakhtar is a big club in its own right & we're talking about a player who has played 200+ games at the age of 24.
 
He seems versatile, especially with his prior experience of playing in a deeper role. That said, having scored so many goals in the more advanced role, it would be kind of weird to shift him back in the midfield.

136805.jpg


Article from Champions League magazine last Dec

The official UEFA Champions League magazine, Champions Matchday, has released an article about Armenian and Shakhtar Donetsk FC midfielder b>Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

“Voted FC Shakhtar Donetsk’s player of the season for 2011/12, Henrik Mkhitaryan is, if anything, even better this time around. The Pitmen won their first 15 league games of the season, Mkhitaryan played in 14 and scored 16 goals. It’s a barely credible statistic, particularly as he is more of a midfielder than a striker, and spent much of last season as a deep-lying creator or even the holding player. He isn’t 24 until January, yet already it seems legitimate to hail Mkhitaryan as the greatest Armenian footballer since the demise of the Soviet Union, in the pantheon alongside striker Nikita Simonyan and midfielders Eduard Markarov and Khoren Hovhannisyan

The reason he finds the net so often is that Shakhtar’s No22 can score goals of all kinds. Clinical finishes, sublime volleys from the edge of the penalty area, rapid counterattacks where he sprints clear after hovering by the shoulder of the last defender, a 360 degree turn and shot from close range – these are all in Mkhitaryan’s repertoire. He doesn’t dwell on his goals tally. To an extent, he is the beneficiary of Shakhtar’s fluid system in which centre-forward Luiz Adriano’s main role is not to score himself but to create space for the mobile trident of Mkhitaryan, Alex Teixera and Willian who play behind him,” the article reads.

He enjoys a close relationship with Mircea Lucescu, a coach who prefers to mould young talent. “It wasn’t easy for him,” says Lucescu, “but his integration was speeded up by his football intelligence. His game awareness may be his most valuable quality – that and the speed, power and technique Henrik was gifted by nature and has developed. Because of that, he’s one of the players who most consistently fulfils the tasks set by the coaching staff.”
Click to expand...

According to Armenian press (in Apr), he's earning €1m (€20.8k/wk) and is looking for pay rise to €2.5m (€52/wk). Contracted until 2015.

Earlier in May:

Shakhtar Donetsk manager Mircea Lucescu said he is aware of Juventus FC’s interest in Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

“I don’t think the club will sign on Mkhitaryan. The player’s transfer will cost USD 30 mln, so I don’t think that “the old señora” will pay that much. Mkhitaryan is an exceptional player and we don’t want to lose him,” the Romanian manager said in interview with tuttojuve.com.
Click to expand...

So its closer to €23m or £19 than the £22m mentioned in today's reports.

And in Dec 2011:


With 1 000 votes Armenia’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named the best midfielder, followed by Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho.

FC Shakhtar Donetsk continues determination of 2011 ideal line-up. The club’s official website users selected defensive midfielders who, according to them, earned the right to perform in the starting line-up of 2011.

With 1 000 (62,89%) votes Armenia’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named the best defensive midfielder, followed by Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, FC Shakhtar official website reported.
Click to expand...


That's the same Fernandinho who was linked with Man City and has a £42.5million release clause.
 
Quick, scores a boat load, skilful, seriously versatile (holding midfielder all the way to striker), and seems to have the physique to cope in england. WHat more can we ask for? And for the same price as Downing.
We should be able to afford him easily enough considering the 15m from Carroll will pay for most of it.

Provided he wants to come. And why not? We're a stepping stone these days, and a good one at that.
 
[quote="Binny, post: 936475, member: 129"
[3h[/SIZE][/COLOR][/RIGHT][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
I wouldn't worry about him adapting to England either, Henrikh is fluent in 5 or 6 languages including English. He's very intelligent ![/quote]

So he has to get dumber.
 
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