Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a professional football player from Armenia who currently serves as captain of both the Armenian national team and the Premier League side Arsenal. Early on, he became interested in football and began playing alongside his father, Hamlet Mkhitaryan. In 1995, he joined the FC Pyunik youth program of the Armenian professional football club, and in 2006, he was promoted to the first squad. He has played for “Metalurh Donetsk,” “Shakhtar Donetsk,” “Borussia Dortmund,” “Manchester United,” and “Arsenal” in his club tenure thus far. He made his collegiate début in January 2007 and has since become Armenia’s leading goal scorer. He has received numerous “Armenian Footballer of the Year” awards and numerous “Ukraine Premier League” honors.
Early Youth & Life
He was born on January 21, 1989, to Marina Taschyan and Hamlet Mkhitaryan in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union. His father, a Hamlet, was a well-known Soviet and Armenian football player who played as an attacker for the Armenian national team, Ararat Yerevan of the Armenian Premier League, and ASOA Valence of the CFA 2. One of the top performers in the 1980s “Soviet Top League” is Hamlet. Early in the 1990s, he relocated his family to France.
Mkhitaryan has been a lifelong football fan and looks up to his father for his insightful commentary on the game. Although he lost his father to a brain tumor when he was only seven, Hamlet had a big influence on the young boy who followed him into football. Many people think that Mkhitaryan’s playing technique and that of his father are very similar.
His mother is the director of the “Armenian Football Federation’s” national teams division. His older sibling Monica is employed by UEFA’s main office. He entered the FC Pyunik youth program in 1995 after his family relocated back to Yerevan that year. He earned his diploma from the Armenian School of “Physical Culture” and went on to the Yerevan campus of the “St. Petersburg Institute,” where he majored in economics.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s Career
With “FC Pyunik,” he made his professional début in 2006. In his four seasons with the club’s first team, he made 70 appearances and scored 30 goals. The squad won the “Armenian Premier League” in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, the “Armenian Super Cup” in 2007 and 2008, and the Armenian Cup in 2009.
He signed with the Ukrainian professional football team Metalurh Donetsk in 2009, and on July 16, 2009, he made his UEFA Europa League debut by scoring in a 3-0 victory over “FC Partizan Minsk.” On July 19, 2009, against “Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk,” he made his “Ukrainian Premier League” debut. On July 26, 2009, against “Karpaty Lviv,” he scored the league’s first goal.
He was named the club’s youngest captain on July 14, 2010, in the organization’s existence. On August 30, 2010, he transferred to the Ukrainian professional football team “Shakhtar Donetsk,” finalizing a $7.5 million agreement. On September 10 against “Obolon Kyiv,” he made his club debut. On September 19, against “Tavriya Simferopol,” he got his first goal for the team.
The club claimed the Ukrainian Premier League, Ukrainian Cup, and Ukrainian Super Cup during his time with “Shakhtar” in the 2010–2011 campaign. His success at “Shakhtar” persisted as the team repeated as the “Ukrainian Premier League” and “Ukrainian Cup” champions in 2011–12 and 2012–13.
In a 2-0 victory over “Metalurh Donetsk” on July 10, 2012, Mkhitaryan contributed to his side, “Shakhtar,” winning the 2012 “Ukrainian Super Cup.” On September 19, 2012, he scored two goals for ‘Shakhtar’ against the reigning Danish winner’ Nordsjaelland’ to score his first ‘UEFA Champions League goal. He was selected as “Man of the Match” in recognition of his outstanding effort.
On May 11, 2013, he scored twice for “Shakhtar” against “Tavria,” bringing his season total of “Premier League” goals to 24. For the most goals scored in a season in the “Ukraine Premier League,” he established a new mark.
He made his professional début with the German sports team “Borussia Dortmund” on July 10 in a pre-season friendly against “FC Basel,” after joining the team in 2013.
His first goal for ‘Dortmund’ occurred in that match. He participated in the 2013–14 Bundesliga, helping ‘Dortmund’ to a runner-up result with 9 goals and 10 assists. He was a member of the WhoScored Bundesliga Squad for the current campaign.
He scored the opening goal for “Dortmund” in their 2-0 victory over “Bayern München” in the 2014 DFL Supercup on August 13, 2014. He signed a four-year deal with a one-year extension option with the football club “Manchester United” on July 6, 2016, making him the first Armenian to play for a Premier League side.
On August 7, 2016, while playing for “Manchester United” in the 2016 “FA Community Shield,” he made his professional début against “Leicester City” by a score of 2-1. He achieved history on August 14 of that year when, in a 3-1 victory for “Manchester United” over “Bournemouth,” he became the first Armenian player in the Premier League.
In the final group game of the “UEFA Europa League,” on December 8, 2016, he got his first goal for “Manchester United” against “Zorya Luhansk.” He scored his first Premier League goal on December 11 of that same year, helping the team defeat “Tottenham Hotspur” 1-0.
Mkhitaryan added the second goal on May 24, 2017, as Manchester United defeated “Ajax” 2-0 in the “UEFA Europa League.” He thus became the first football star from Armenia to triumph in a significant European football competition.
Early in 2018, he transferred to the Premier League team Arsenal. On February 3, 2018, he made his début for “Arsenal,” defeating “Everton” 5-1. In 2007, he began playing for the Armenian national football team. He was named to the “UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying Dream Team” after scoring six goals in Group B of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying for Armenia, where he finished as the highest scorer in the group.
On September 10, 2013, he took over as captain of the Armenian squad in place of Roman Berezovsky during a 2014 “FIFA World Cup” qualification match against Denmark. He surpassed Artur Petrosyan’s 11 goals on October 15, 2014, to become the Armenian national team’s leading scorer with 12. In a 7-1 friendly victory over Guatemala in Los Angeles in May 2016, he added yet another accomplishment to his resume as well as that of his homeland.
Henrik h’s Individual Existence
He is fluent in seven languages, including Portuguese, Russian, Armenian, English, German, and French.
He was named an “Honorary Citizen of Yerevan” for his contributions to and successes in sports. He traveled to the Republic of Artsakh for humanitarian purposes and was awarded the medal of the prime minister.
Estimated Net Worth
Football star Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is Armenian, has a $4 million fortune. He is a defender for Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga and the Armenian national team. Mkhitaryan, who made his international début in January 2007 and has scored 12 goals in 43 games, is Armenia’s all-time leading scorer.