Hi I'm Henrikh Mkhitaryan and this is My Story.
I think the first thing that inspired me was
seeing my father play. He was a football player as well so he was my drive and because
of him, I got interested in football and trying to become a football player. I couldn't realise
what was that time and what he was for me as a football hero, but when we came to Armenia,
after when he passed away, I've had lots of people talking about him and saying good
things about him. Then I realised he was a good football player and a good person.
When I went to Brazil at 13 years old it was not very easy being far away from your home, far away
from your parents and family, but of course
the only thing you had to understand that if you wanted to become a football player,
you have to handle it. I wasn't on my own there. I still had three team-mates flying from Armenia and one coach.
It was very interesting, why? Because it's a different culture. Comparing the Armenian
football culture to the Brazilian football culture is totally different. They had very interesting
stuff during the training sessions where you could only use your left foot or only with your right foot
or maybe it was only shooting training or running so it was quite different. Of course, having
team-mates more skilful, it gave you the chance to learn more. Besides that, I was going to
school in Brazil, improve my Portuguese. You could see the difference between the two countries
and I've learned a lot from there.
When I first went to the Ukraine, I joined Metalurh Donetsk.
I think we had one Brazilian player called Fabinho. We had a few Portuguese players and
we had other internationals as well. I was trying to communicate with them in Portuguese.
It wasn't easy because I had forgotten (my Portuguese). It wasn't easy to talk to them
because it's a bit different. The guys who lived in Portugal and Brazil with their accent
and spelling, but I was trying to remember the words to bring back the language, but after it was hard.
When I moved to Shakhtar Donetsk, it became easier because I had 12 Brazilians around me so whatever you
were doing, wherever you were going you had Brazilians so you had to remember the language and talk to them.
I wasn't thinking that I'm going to break a record there. The most important thing was that the team was playing
very offensive we didn't have too many opponents who could play on the same level as we did. It was very easy
for me to score goals because all I had to do was be in the right position at the right time
and put the ball in the net. From the right side I had Douglas Costa, from the left side
I had Willian, behind me I had Fernandinho and in front of me I had Luiz Adriano so it
was very easy to play alongside them and understand the way they want to play.
I was putting a lot of pressure on myself for that time - £27.5 million was too much money but now it's nothing.
When I transferred from Shakhtar to Dortmund, everyone was saying how they'd paid a lot of money.
I put the pressure on myself but as well, I realised that wasn't the best way so I had
to forget about that number and to be focused on the football because it's not me who asked
£27 million for myself, it is the club I play for. The clubs agreed these numbers.
Under Klopp I was playing good football but it was difficult in my second year because the team was
struggling as well. When Thomas Tuchel came, he gave me the same confidence as I had at the beginning with
Klopp. I was very happy because he could convince me to believe in myself and the strength I
had and that's how I got to the next level of my football career and I'm thankful to him.
It was my dream to play in the Premier League.
I knew the league is very tough but I was ready for this challenge.
I had achieved everything in Ukraine and Germany so I wanted to try myself at a new chapter
with a new challenge. That's why I chose to come to Manchester United and try my strengths here. It was a
bit difficult at the beginning, but then I settled down and got good performances. Every player has ups
and downs. There is no football life without that. I was ready for it. I have never complained
or found excuses about why I'm not playing or about having difficulties. It's part of your life, it's
part of football. You have to be ready for it and I was. Even when I wasn't playing, I was still smiling
and doing some jogs, waiting for my next opportunity because I knew one day it would come.
When I heard I could swap Manchester United for Arsenal, I said: "Yes, I want to do that."
I wasn't even thinking twice or thinking that maybe I don't have to go. I said: "No, I want to go. I want to
have more playing time. I want to enjoy playing attacking, offensive football." I made the
right decision coming here. I didn't come here to replace anyone. Everyone keeps saying
that I've been part of a deal for Alexis Sanchez, but it's not true because he was running down
his contract. If I didn't choose to come Arsenal, he would have stayed at Arsenal until the summer.
Everything was up to me. I'm not saying I was important in this aspect, but I want everyone
to understand I wasn't made part of the deal for Alexis Sanchez. I came to Arsenal because
Arsene Wenger wanted me. It's not because he wanted to replace me. We're different players,
we're different characters, we have different abilities and skills. I will try my best for
the club to achieve as much as we can. I want to leave my name in Arsenal as a legend because
it's not easy to come to a team where you have been dreaming of playing for since you were a child.
Of course I would be happy to leave my name as a legend, to make fans happy, to achieve a
lot with this club and to do my best to win trophies, score goals and assist.