YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS.  BBC has published an article about Captain of Armenia national football team and member of “Manchester United” club Henrikh Mkhitaryan. “Armenpress” presents the article.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has thanked Jurgen Klopp for the advice that helped him through a tough start to his Old Trafford career. Liverpool boss Klopp counselled the player through a difficult time when they were at Borussia Dortmund in 2013.

After remaining on the bench of reserves for nearly 10 weeks, Mkhitaryan recalled Klopp’s advises he had received still in Borussia. "I am thankful to Klopp. He worked on my personality and the psychological part," Mkhitaryan said. The Armenian spent two seasons working under Klopp in Germany before the coach quit, later taking over at Liverpool in October 2015.

"At Dortmund, I was very stressed after a few games when we were playing really bad, Klopp showed me the way. He supported me and told me I had to keep my head up because good things were coming. He helped me to become a player." added Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan says Klopp is a different person to United manager Jose Mourinho. "They are both very friendly and very good at their jobs but the way they work is different. It is the first year under Jose's management and we are working very hard. He tells us what he wants to see. Of course, it is not very easy when you have a new manager”, the Armenian midfielder said.

The move to the Premier League was another step on a remarkable journey for Mkhitaryan, who speaks six languages - including English - and is the son of one of Armenia's most famous footballers.

Mkhtaryan’s father Hamlet was also an Armenian international and one of the first players from the country to play outside of the old Soviet Union. He died of a brain tumour when Mkhitaryan was seven. "He was my drive, my goal, my dream," he said. "I did not feel the true impact when he died but I knew that he was watching me from the sky. He has to be very proud."

Mkhitaryan is now one of the most famous  Armenians in the world. He comes from a country that had a five-year conflict with neighbours Azerbaijan between 1989 and 1994 over disputed territory and still does not have normal relations with Turkey due to the treatment it received under Ottoman rule in World War One (Armenian Genocide claiming 1.5 million innocent lives-edit).

"It was very hard growing up in Armenia because at that time we had a lot of problems with our neighbours and we had war, so it was a bad situation," BBC quoted Mkhitaryan, speaking at a Manchester United Foundation #SchoolsUnited event in Moss Side.