Mkhitaryan: I had to leave England to “get pleasure playing football again”

One of the least surprising and probably more welcome departures this past summer was that of Henrikh Mkhitaryan. For whatever reason, he never really became what we all thought he might at Arsenal. He wasn’t ever bad, as such, he just never took his career to the level that maybe we were hoping he would.

He came to Arsenal, of course, as Alexis Sanchez went to Mkhitaryan’s old club, Manchester United. It was hoped that both would use the new starts at different clubs to find new success and productivity, and now both Sanchez and Mkhi are on loan in Italy, having played their way out of jobs in England so that seemed to work out well for both of them.

Mkhi opened up a bit today about his time in England, saying that he “no longer felt happy” and had to leave Arsenal in order to “get pleasure in playing football again”:

“I got a call from my agent and I wanted to come, because it was a great opportunity for me. I didn’t even have a discussion with my agent about money. Maybe I was not fitting so well in English football, so I think a change was good.”

I don’t wish Mkhi ill, at all, but I am glad he’s gone, as he wasn’t really getting the job done at Arsenal, especially recently. Feeling unhappy at your job, whatever the job is, is not fun, and I hope that he finds something at Roma he couldn’t find in England.