‘You’re the s***!’ – Man Utd ace’s furious clash with Jose Mourinho revealed

Robin Bairner

Updated: 10 Oct 2025 13:00 BST
4 min read

Former Manchester United player Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed how Jose Mourinho treated him after he finally snapped following 18 months under the Portuguese’s brutal regime.

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Mkhitaryan, who now plays for Inter Milan, was a star signing at Man Utd in the summer of 2016 but struggled to find his best level at Old Trafford after showing incredible promise at Borussia Dortmund.

In his new book ‘La mia vita sempre al centro’, he has revealed that Mourinho’s attitude towards him only made things worse.

Current ETV

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

M (C)

Inter

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

M (C)

Inter

ETV Range

€1.6M - €2.5M

In an extract published on Calciomercato, Mkhitaryan wrote: “I told him, you’ve been criticising me for a year-and-a-half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United. Mourinho told me I was ‘s***’ and I just lost my temper. ‘You are the s***. An enormous one.’

“Jose 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 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.’”

Jose wins out

Ultimately, Mourinho got his wish. Mkhitaryan went to Arsenal in a deal worth €34m while Alexis Sanchez travelled in the opposite direction for an identical price in what was, in all essence, a swap deal.

Alexis Sanchez performed no better with United than Mkhitaryan, scoring only five goals and generating nine assists in 45 appearances before joining Inter on a free transfer.

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