Henrikh Mkhitaryan has said he doesn’t want “to see the old Mkhitaryan” at Arsenal as he attempts to become “someone new”.
Since joining from Manchester United in January, Mkhitaryan has flashed hot and cold for the north London club.
Most recently, the Armenian scored and set up Alex Iwobi’s goal in last weekend’s 3-2 defeat by Chelsea. But having struggled for form and confidence at Old Trafford, Mkhitaryan has yet to reach the same heights that saw him excel in the Bundlesliga with Borussia Dortmund.
Now, with a new Arsenal regime in place under Unai Emery, the player has said he has no intentions of bringing “the old Mkhitaryan” to the Emirates. Instead, he wants to be “someone new”.
“I don’t think you’re going to see the Dortmund Mkhitaryan, because in Dortmund the philosophy was different, the playing style was different, the league was different,” the midfielder said ahead of Saturday’s game against West Ham.
“Arsenal are playing in a different league with a different manager and different teammates.
“I don’t want to see the old Mkhitaryan being here at Arsenal. I want to be someone new, someone else who can show that he’s capable of doing the same for Arsenal as well.”
Mkhitaryan also insisted that Arsenal’s players are keeping their “heads up” after losing their opening two games of the season.
“We are not thinking that something is going wrong, because we are on the right way,” he said. “Even if we lose the first two games, it doesn’t mean we’re not going to finish in the top four.
“We still have 36 games to go and anything can happen in the English Premier League, everybody knows that. We’re staying positive with our heads up, just working hard for the next games.”
