Henrikh Mkhitaryan arrived at Manchester United this summer, for £26m, largely unnoticed, at least to the hype surrounding the arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
And it has not exactly been the brightest of starts from the Armenian, an injury-hampered start to the season producing only one league start, in the defeat to Manchester City.
But Jose Mourinho has insisted that Mkhitaryan, once he has adjusted to life in England, will come up trumps.
Ahead of United’s meeting with Burnley this weekend, Mourinho told reporters: “I think it takes time.
“Some players, their profile is adapted to come and play, some others they need more time to feel the intensity and the aggression, the game without the ball, the competitiveness.
“Mkhi needs time to become the top player he can be. Of course we believe in him and of course we believe that sooner of later there will be no problem.”
Mourinho went on to compare Mkhitaryan to Willian, of Chelsea, and PSG’s Angel De Maria, both of whom recovered from slow starts in new countries to flourish.
Jose added: ‘I don’t like to speak about players from other clubs but I don’t think they will be upset with me. Willian – he arrived at Chelsea, had problems to play. He went through a process then after he became a top player, then the next season he became absolutely phenomenal and still is.
‘When Di Maria arrived at Real Madrid, he also had to learn a lot about his game and a new reality. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes with defenders but it’s easier for them. For attacking players sometimes they arrive and go straight to success. Other times it takes a little more time.
‘In Mkhi’s case the process was interrupted by an injury that kept him out for about a month. To be out for a month in this process and then be fit but not fit to play you have to go through a process of getting match fitness then you need competitive level to do it.’
By Steve Osborne @BlizzardSteve75
