Mourinho calling for more from Red Devils’ Mkhitaryan

Jose Mourinho is calling on summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan to up his game if he wants to become a regular part of the Manchester United starting line-up.

The Armenian had to settle for a place on the bench for Thursday’s Europa League defeat to Fenerbahce, eventually replacing Marcus Rashford with 30 minutes to play.

And the 27-year-old has found starts a rarity this term, playing from the outset just once in United’s derby defeat against Manchester City, replaced at half-time by Rashford.

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

That was one of just six appearances for Mkhitaryan since his £26million switch from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, with Mourinho sending a message to his attacker to show off his potential.

“He has to do more. It’s as simple as that,” said Mourinho, whose Red Devils have won just two of their last seven games in all competitions.

“We have big expectations at this club, lots of players for these positions and he has to play better than Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Anthony 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.”