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Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has revealed that former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho messaged him every evening via WhatsApp asking him to leave the club following a heated confrontation between the two.
The disclosure appears in Mkhitaryan's recently published book, where he details his troubled tenure at Old Trafford under the Portuguese manager's leadership.
Mkhitaryan joined Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund in 2016, arriving as one of the Bundesliga's most in-form midfielders. However, the playmaker struggled to replicate that success in England and frequently drew criticism from Mourinho before eventually departing in a swap deal that brought Alexis Sanchez to United from Arsenal.
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In his book, Mkhitaryan recounts a training ground dispute that marked a turning point in their relationship. According to his account, he confronted Mourinho about persistent criticism spanning the year and a half since his arrival at the club.
"I told him, you've been criticizing me for a year and a half since I came to Manchester United," Mkhitaryan wrote. "He said to me, 'You're terrible.' I got angry and said, 'You're terrible, you're amazing.' He shouted back, 'Get out of here, I don't want to see you again.'"
Following the confrontation, Mkhitaryan says Mourinho stopped speaking to him during training sessions but maintained communication through evening WhatsApp messages.
"He didn't say a single word to me at training, but every evening he was messaging on WhatsApp: 'Miki, please go.' He kept sending the same message," Mkhitaryan said. "I replied, 'If I find the right team, I'll go, otherwise I'll wait until summer.'"
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