Looking back, perhaps the loudest alarm bell during David Moyes’ first months at Manchester United was Marouane Fellaini’s arrival for £27.5mn – a little more than a month after his £23mn buyout clause had expired.
That confusion typifies much of the club’s transfer policy since: money splashed on a player without a clear role to fill in the team. No specific plan emerged for how to use Fellaini and the same can be said for the signings of Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Angel Di Maria.
All of which is in stark contrast to Jose Mourinho’s decisiveness in the transfer market. United have needed a centre-back since Rio Ferdinand, a striker since Robin van Persie faded, and a right-winger since Antonio Valencia’s form tailed off three years ago. The new manager has quickly addressed these areas by recruiting Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and his latest addition: Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Mkhitaryan arrives having built a reputation as one of the best attacking midfielders in the Bundesliga. He is the complete supporting forward: his speed and trickery make him a threat in wide positions but he can also be the creative No10, with a knack of arriving in the box right on cue.
United are signing a player with pace; asked what he would be if he had not made it as a footballer, Mkhitaryan light-heartedly suggested he would have become a sprinter. Crucially, the 27-year-old will bring energy to the defence, attack and counterattack to a side who were so sluggish at times last season they resembled a walking football team. Grafters tend to win over Premier League fans quickly and harrying the opposition is ingrained in his game — two seasons under Jurgen Klopp will do that to a player.
Mkhitaryan began playing in his home country, Armenia, following the career of his father, Hamlet, who died from a brain tumour aged 33 – Henrikh was seven and has talked about the huge effect losing his father has had on his life. After shining as a teenager he moved to Ukraine with Metalurh Donetsk where, aged 21, he was made captain in his second season.
In 2010, he made the step up to city rivals Shakhtar Donetsk. In three seasons at the club he shone as part of a thrilling midfield alongside Willian, Douglas Costa and Fernandinho, earning three league and cup doubles, a player-of-the-season award, and a £23mn move to Borussia Dortmund.
He scored 41 goals and made 49 assists in 140 games for Dortmund and last season was voted the Bundesliga players’ player of the year, but it has not been an entirely smooth ride. The club spent much of a stuttering 2014-15 campaign near the bottom of the table and Mkhitaryan’s form had fallen away drastically. He received severe criticism but Klopp’s response was emphatic. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is one of the most talented players in the world,” the manager said. “He possesses an incredible combination of speed and technique. There’s very, very few you can say that about.
“There’s a reason why the world’s best chess players come from Armenia like Mkhitaryan. They’re thinkers, they’re hard workers, they graft.”
Dortmund’s current coach, Thomas Tuchel, used Mkhitaryan as a No10, on the left and even deeper as a box-to-box midfielder but played him predominately on the right of a front three last season. Given United’s lack of quality on the right side, this is the most likely position for Mkhitaryan to start his Old Trafford career.
Mourinho’s will to bring through youth players is questioned but he has a good habit of buying round pegs for round holes. When Internazionale needed to rebuild their midfield in the summer of 2009, Mourinho was quick to sign the dependable Thiago Motta and the more creative Wesley Sneijder, a crucial partnership in their historic treble win the following season. Chelsea clearly needed a creative player and a goalscorer in the summer after his first season back at Stamford Bridge – cue the early arrival of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, whose immediate impact helped propel them to the 2014-15 title.
Assuming Mourinho begins life at United with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, then his team are starting to take shape: David de Gea behind Bailly and Chris Smalling with Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian at full-back; two deep midfielders (take your pick from a long list); Wayne Rooney at No10 with Mkhitaryan on the right, Anthony Martial to the left and Ibrahimovic leading the line.
There remains the issue of a bloated midfield. If Mourinho does use two deep-lying central midfielders then Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Carrick, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, Blind and Fellaini will be fighting for starting places.
On his return to Chelsea, Mourinho said: “I hate to work with big squads. I want a small squad – 21 players plus the goalkeepers and no more.”
His new signings take the first team to at least 24 outfield players, more if you include youngsters on the fringe such as Timothy Fosu-Mensah. Expect the manager to be ruthless and, after several years of muddled thinking at Old Trafford, Mourinho has already brought a decisiveness that has been missed.