Jose Mourinho says he was "protecting" Henrikh Mkhitaryan by not playing him at the start of Manchester United's Premier League campaign, Mirror reports.
The Armenian is becoming an increasingly important cog in Mourinho's ever-progressing United side, and scored the opener in their 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday.
"Sometimes we don't play players, we protect them, and Mkhitaryan was one of these cases. He was being protected and he was adapting and I can see not just what you see, because you see the magic things he can do on the pitch. But I also see other things that I want to see and Mkhitaryan is playing really, really well," Mourinho said.