Tom Jones about Mkhitaryan: ''He was Too Good to be Playing in That Team''

• 07.13.2016, 20:47
•  No-politics

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Manchester United new boy Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the kind of player all defenders hate to play against, according to his former international coach Tom Jones.

Jones first spotted a raw teenager appearing in Armenia's Under-21s against their counterparts from Liechtenstein back in 2006. The 17-year-old caught the coach's eye in Yerevan and has never looked back since, earning a dream move to Old Trafford this summer to become part of Jose Mourinho's new-look United side.

In the mid-2000s, Jones was assisting Armenia manager Ian Porterfield, Sunderland's 1973 FA Cup final hero, after a stint in South Korea. The coach took over as interim boss when Porterfield sadly lost his battle with cancer and, in his six games in charge, helped engender a change in mindset that has benefited an attacking spark like Mkhitaryan.

Clearly, his first impression of the young FC Pyunik prospect was a positive one. "I was with the main national side but the first time I saw Henrikh was when he was playing for the Under-21s," Jones told ManUtd.com. "I was there sitting with Vardan [Minasyan], who was a coach with the national team and ended up taking over when I left.

"I said: 'He's too good to be playing in that team. Get him in the full squad.' From that time, he just joined the full squad and was regularly part of the training."