Ibrahimovic backs Mkhitaryan to prove himself at Manchester United

PanARMENIAN.Net - Zlatan Ibrahimovic has backed Henrikh Mkhitaryan to prove himself at Manchester United after finally shining under Jose Mourinho, The Mirror says.

Mkhitaryan, a £26million summer signing from Borussia Dortmund, had been exiled by Mourinho since a disastrous 45-minute outing in United's 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City.

But he was brought in from the cold for United's 4-0 Europa League win over Feyenoord on Thursday, with Ibrahimovic heaping praise on his team-mate for the way he handled his exile.

"I know who Miki is, I see it every day in training, so hopefully he showed everybody who he is and has the confidence to keep on doing that," said Ibrahimovic.

"He was injured and he's been training very hard since, being very professional, so you just have to wait for your chance and, when you get your chance, you need to take it.

"It's up to the coach who plays, because there are 25 players if I'm correct, so the coach is the boss, he decides who plays.

"He's a quality player, like every player in the team, but it's up to the coach who plays in the team.

"Like I said, he was injured for a while, but he's come back and he's been good in training, like everbody else."