Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Armenian talent on British radar

Will this player be at the Emirates? With Mircea Lucescu, Shakhtar boss

The name Henrikh Hamlet Mkhitaryan might sound strange to some folks in this football crazy world as is the pronunciation yet the 22-year old Armenian international has caught the hawkish eyes of many European scouts, notably that of Arsenal. Currently plying his trade in the Ukrainian Premier League with champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Mkhitaryan caught the attention of leading British sports channel Sky Sports which described him as ‘a very good young player’ and adding that ‘Shakhtar Donetsk’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan is emerging as one of the finest prospects in Eastern Europe.’ The mere fact that one of the world’s most popular sports channels has kept Henrikh on their radar is a testament to the young player’s abilities as an upcoming footballer and his progress at Shakhtar and the Armenian national team would be monitored closely by the big Premier League clubs in the close season.

A self-confessed Arsenal fan, the former Metalurh Donetsk midfielder has admitted that his dream would be to play at the Emirates stadium under the watchful gaze of the French manager Arsene Wenger and there are unconfirmed reports from Yerevan and London that the Gunners are still interested in investing on a young prospect like the talented Mkhitaryan despite the club’s lack of success with young turks over the past six seasons. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is very popular in his homeland and his contribution to the national team on various age levels has made him a real star who can guide the former Soviet republic to new heights in the coming era. Nicknamed ‘The Maestro’ in his native land, Mkhitaryan started his career at Pyunik Yerevan in the year 2006 and very quickly emerged as their main player in the starting line-up. Coinciding with his club form was his rapid development in the international stage with the Armenian U-17, U-19 and U-21 squads. Finally Henrikh got his senior international call up on 14^th January, 2007 away to Panama, just a week short of his eighteenth birthday. Since then there was no looking back and the versatile footballer has since developed as an individual and as a football player coinciding with the overall improvements of the national side under the guidance of Vardan Minasyan. Having started his international career in the year 2007, the 5ft 10ins player has four goals to his name in twenty one matches, a good return for a player who is versatile enough to play in any top European league in the coming years.

Moving to the Ukraine after three seasons in Yerevan proved to be a great decision on the part of the young midfielder as Metalurh Donetsk reaped the benefits of signing Mkhitaryan in 2009 and the player scored on debut against Belorussian Premier League club FC Partizan Misk on his debut in the Europa League. Having scored 30 goals in 70 appearances for his homeland club Pyunik Yerevan before moving to Metalurh, the step up to the much tougher Ukrainian league proved to be no hurdle in Mkhitaryan’s development and the 22-year old became a firm favourite with the fans of Metalurh Donetsk as he tallied 12 goals in his twelve months with the Metadons and was made the youngest captain in the club’s history in July 2010 before surprisingly sold to city rivals Shakhtar for a reported fee of 7.5 million dollars a few days later.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a player who can play at any formation at any kind of role and that’s what makes him an asset to his current employers Shakhtar Donetsk. Starting out as a midfielder, he has played as a striker, a winger and a creative midfielder just behind the strikers. He can play any role in any formation.

Mkhitaryan’s preferred position is just behind the strikers and his pace and skills give nightmares to opposing defenses and opens up the field for his teammates to go for a goal or for him to attack.

The boy from Yerevan is gifted with a great combination of wonderful skill, passing abilities and finishing that makes him one of the most wanted young players in whole of Europe. The impressive performances of the Armenian national team in the EURO 2012 qualifying have made the continent follow the small nation with great interest and the influence of Henrikh Mkhitaryan does not go unnoticed. 2011/2012 might not be the season that the Premier League or for that matter any top European League would see Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the player needs more time to develop his skill and physique to meet bigger challenges in the future but if his steady performance for Shakhtar is anything to go by and if the great relationship that exists between the Ukrainian champions and Arsenal Football Club is anything to indicate, Arsene Wenger might just be tempted to bring the 22-year old to the Emirates by the time the new season gets underway having already seen him first hand in this season’s Champions League group phase where both Arsenal and Donetsk were paired together.