{"id":292822,"date":"2017-02-10T15:23:28","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T15:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=292822"},"modified":"2017-02-10T15:23:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T15:23:28","slug":"man-utds-mkhitaryan-thanks-liverpool-boss-jurgen-klopp-for-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/02\/man-utds-mkhitaryan-thanks-liverpool-boss-jurgen-klopp-for-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd’s Mkhitaryan thanks Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp for advice"},"content":{"rendered":"
Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has thanked Jurgen Klopp for the advice that helped him through a tough start to his Old Trafford career.<\/p>\n
Liverpool boss Klopp counselled the player through a difficult time when they were at Borussia Dortmund in 2013.<\/p>\n
Earlier this season, Mkhitaryan did not play in the league for 10 weeks and remembered Klopp’s previous advice.<\/p>\n
“I am thankful to Klopp. He worked on my personality and the psychological part,” 28-year-old Mkhitaryan said.<\/p>\n
The Armenian spent two seasons working under Klopp in Germany before the coach quit, later taking over at Liverpool in October 2015.<\/p>\n
Within eight months, the playmaker was following his old boss to the Premier League, joining United for a reported \u00a326.3m.<\/p>\n
However, after being substituted at half-time during United’s 2-1 home defeat by Manchester City on 10 September, he did not play in the Premier League again until 27 November.<\/p>\n
“At Dortmund, I was very stressed after a few games when we were playing really bad,” added Mkhitaryan, who has scored five times this season.<\/p>\n
“Klopp showed me the way. He supported me and told me I had to keep my head up because good things were coming. He helped me to become a player.”<\/p>\n
The move to the Premier League was another step on a remarkable journey for Mkhitaryan, who speaks six languages – including English – and is the son of one of Armenia’s most famous footballers.<\/p>\n
Father Hamlet was also an Armenian international and one of the first players from the country to play outside of the old Soviet Union. He died of a brain tumour when Mkhitaryan was seven.<\/p>\n
“He was my drive, my goal, my dream,” he said. “I did not feel the true impact when he died but I knew that he was watching me from the sky. He has to be very proud.”<\/p>\n