Manchester United outcast to be given chance in League Cup

Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be given a chance to salvage his Manchester United career against Championship side Bristol City on Wednesday. 

The Armenia international has fallen down the pecking order under Jose Mourinho after reportedly having an argument with the United manager during a video analysis session last month. 

Mkhitaryan has failed to feature in eight of United’s last nine matchday squads but Mourinho has hinted the former Borussia Dortmund creator could return on to first-team action against Bristol City. 

“It’s possible he is involved,” ESPN quote Mourinho as saying at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “At the moment we are playing [Juan] Mata, [Marcus] Rashford, [Jesse] Lingard, [Anthony] Martial, [Romelu] Lukaku so on the bench being Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] and one of the other ones, Martial or Rashford and there is no space for everybody because you need balance on the bench too.”

United have reportedly slapped a £35m price tag on Mkhitaryan’s head in the build up to the January transfer window as Mourinho continues to plot a move to reunite with Arsenal creator Mesut Ozil. 

Mkhitaryan has endured a turbulent time at Old Trafford since joining from Dortmund in a deal worth just less than £30m over 12 months ago and seems to have ran out of chances with Mourinho. 

No Premier League players WhoScored rating has dripped more severely from the first two months of the season (Aug 1 - Sept 30) to now than Mkhitaryan’s (7.79 to 6.17). Despite that, no United player has provided more assists in the league than the 28-year-old last season (5).