Henrikh Hamletovich Mkhitaryan is an Armenian football player, midfielder of the Armenian national team and the Italian Internazionale.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on January 21, 1989 in Yerevan.
His father, Hamlet Mkhitaryan, was a professional football player. In the 1980s – 1990s, he played for the Ararat team, as well as for the French club Valence. His mother, Marina Tashchyan, heads the national teams department at the Football Federation of Armenia.
In the period from 1990 to 1995, Mkhitaryan lived in France.
He received his higher education at the Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture. He also studied at the Faculty of Economics of the Yerevan Branch of the St. Petersburg Institute.
He speaks several foreign languages. In addition to Armenian, he speaks Russian, Ukrainian, French, English, Portuguese, Italian and German.
Football career
As a child, he decided to become a professional football player.
A four-month trip to Brazil, where he trained at the football academy of the Brazilian club São Paulo, played an important role in the formation of the athlete.
“Pyunik”
At the age of 15, he signed his first professional contract, and at the age of 17 he made his debut in adult football. During the first match for Pyunik, Mkhitaryan scored a goal and was able to gain a foothold in the main team.
In the second season, the footballer scored about one goal in every second match. He was soon recognized as the most promising footballer of his generation in Armenia.
In the first half of 2009, he showed even better form – his average exceeded one goal per match. In ten meetings, the midfielder scored 11 times, demonstrating high performance.
“Metallurg”
While playing for Pyunik between 2006 and 2009, Mkhitaryan took part in 70 matches, where he scored 30 goals. During this time, he won the title of champion of Armenia four times, won the Cup of the country and twice won the Super Cup.
Eventually, football clubs from France, Argentina and Russia began to be interested in the midfielder. However, Mkhitaryan decided to join Metallurg Donetsk, which regularly participated in the UEFA Cup.
In July 2009, he played for the first time in an official match for the Ukrainian club and immediately scored a goal against the Belarusian team MTZ-RIPO during the Europa League. In the same month, he scored his first goal in the Ukrainian Premier League, scoring in the game against Karpaty Lviv.
Shakhtar
In 2010, Mkhitaryan moved to another Donetsk club – Shakhtar. The contract was 5 years, and the club received $ 7.5 million for the transfer. The Armenian midfielder quickly became one of the main players. In the 2011/2012 season, he scored 10 goals.
At the end of the season, Mkhitaryan was recognized as the best player of the year of Shakhtar, and the publication “Sport-Express” named the midfielder the best football player of the CIS and Baltic countries.
The next season, the footballer showed even better results. Having hit the opponent’s goal 25 times in 29 matches, he became the main scorer of the Ukrainian championship.
For three years of playing for the Donetsk club, Mkhitaryan managed to win seven trophies – three times he became the champion of Ukraine and the owner of the national cup, and once lifted the Super Cup of Ukraine over his head. He appeared 72 times for Shakhtar and scored 38 goals.
Borussia Dortmund
In the summer of 2013, Shakhtar began to receive transfer requests for Mkhitaryan from clubs in England, Italy and Germany. As a result, he joined Borussia Dortmund. The German club paid 27.5 million euros for the midfielder.
The Armenian footballer scored his first goal in the Bundesliga in the match against Eintracht, and hit the opponent’s goal twice, ensuring the team’s victory with a score of 2:1. In the German Super Cup match, his goal helped the team defeat Bayern Munich 2-0. At the end of the first season, Mkhitaryan scored 9 goals and made 10 assists.
In the 2015/2016 season, he had the status of a key player in the Borussia Dortmund squad. Fans recognized him as the best player of the team, and Kicker named him the best player in the Bundesliga. That season, he took part in 31 league matches, scoring 11 goals and providing 16 assists.
Manchester United
At the end of this season, the footballer decided to move to the English Manchester United. The contract with the club from Manchester was concluded for a period of 4 years. The British paid £26.3 million for the transfer of Mkhitaryan.
In his first season in the new team, Heinrich did not immediately begin to appear in the starting lineup, but over time he was still able to gain a foothold. The most successful for him was the 2016/2017 season. In the final match of the Europa League, he scored a goal, helping the team beat Ajax Amsterdam with a score of 2:0.
“Arsenal”
In the second season, he appeared on the field only 15 times. During the winter transfer window of 2018, there was an exchange between Manchester and Arsenal – Mkhitaryan joined the London club, and Alexis Sanchez became a player of the Red Devils. The Armenian midfielder played his first game for Arsenal in January 2018.
In February, in a match against Everton, the footballer assisted his teammates three times, and in March he scored his first goal for the London team.
Roma
In September 2019, Arsenal sent Mkhitaryan on loan to Italian Roma. Despite the fact that he missed most of the season due to injuries, the footballer quickly adapted to the new team and managed to gain a foothold in the main squad of the Roman club.
A year after the loan , Roma officially formalized a full-fledged transfer of Mkhitaryan. As of April 2021, he played almost 50 matches for the Roman club and scored 18 goals.
According to information from the transfermarkt website, in December 2020, the midfielder’s market value was 20 million euros.
Career in the national team
Mkhitaryan played in the Armenian national under-19 national team. On January 14, 2007, he entered the field for the first time as part of the national team, taking part in a friendly match against Panama.
In 2014, during a World Cup qualifier against Italy, he scored his 12th goal for the national team, becoming the top scorer in the history of the Armenian national team. Since 2016, Mkhitaryan has been the captain of the national team.
During 14 years of playing for the national team, the midfielder played 80 matches and scored 33 goals. He also remains the only player of the Armenian youth team who managed to score a hat-trick – in 2009, in a game against Ireland, he hit the goal three times. In 2016, already playing for the main team, Mkhitaryan again scored a hat-trick in the match against the Guatemalan national team.
Marital Status
Mkhitaryan was credited with a relationship with Judy Littler, the ex-wife of French footballer Djibril Cisset. According to British media reports, the Welsh artist and designer spent about a year with the footballer, and there was even information about her pregnancy from Mkhitaryan. However, she is rumored to have lost a child.
In 2017, the footballer was spotted in the company of Russian model Victoria Lopyryova.
Mkhitaryan eventually married Betty Vardanyan – his compatriot, the daughter of businessman Mikael Vardanyan. The couple’s wedding took place in the summer of 2019, and the wedding ceremony was held in an Armenian church near Venice.
In March 2020, the couple had a son, who was named after Henry’s father – Hamlet.
