Things certainly haven't gone as expected for Manchester United's new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The Armenian didn't imagine he'd have to face such a battle for playing time at Old Trafford, having joined as part of the revolution under Jose Mourinho during the summer, despite being injured at one point.
The Portuguese brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly along with Mkhitaryan in an effort to return the club back to their winning ways, yet that doesn't look to be happening just yet, and the Red Devils are really struggling to find form.
Mkhitaryan has only made one start at United since the beginning of the season, with all of his other five appearances coming off the bench.
The 27-year-old came on as a substitute during United's Europa League tie against Fenerbahce last week, but could not help the side avoid a 2-1 defeat. After the match, Mourinho was asked about Mkhitaryan's performance.
"He has to do more," he replied. "It’s as simple as that.
"We have big expectations at this club, lots of players for these positions and he has to play better than Mata, Lingard, Martial – he has to play better than them. It’s as simple as that.
"Every manager wants to win matches, every manager in the world wants to play the players that he thinks can help the team more, and I’m no different."
The player has seemingly taken up the challenge, and vowed that he would not give up on his dream.
"It’s true that I get little time on the field, but I am not going to give in," he said in response to his manager, via Metro.
"I went a long way to play in Manchester United, so nothing will prevent me from achieving my dream.
"I will not retreat. I will find the strength to reach my goal."
