Maroon side of Rome is preparing for the new era of their beloved club under one of the biggest managerial names – Jose Mourinho. When the Portuguese expert arrived to the club, he found two players that he already managed while being in charge at Manchester United – defender Chris Smalling and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.Peculiar thing is that, while at Old Trafford, Mourinho and especially Mkhitaryan could not find a common language, which led to the Armenian being completely neglected and eventually sent to Arsenal. The history between the two sparked questions among the sports media if a replay is on the horizon.However, the Armenian snugged all the speculations and insisted that his relationship with Mourinho has been patched up. The proof of his words is him agreeing a new contract after speaking with the new Roma manager.Marcus Rashford will finally get surgery on his troublesome shoulder – but will miss two months of actionAs Roma prepare for their new Serie A mission in the season ahead, Mkhitaryan, who has decided to stay at the club despite several offers, insists all that commotion with Mourinho is now in the past – the hatchet has been buried.’What happened in Manchester stays there. We spoke as mature people, we both want to go down the same path, we both want to win something with Roma and that is the only thing that matters this year.’, Mkhitaryan told Corriere dello Sport.In the season behind us, Roma finished seventh in the Serie A table and thus qualified for the new UEFA competition – Europa Conference League, which resulted in Paulo Fonseca being replaced by his more famous countryman.After his chat with Mourinho, the 32-year-old agreed a one-year contract extension at the beginning of this month. Last season saw him record 15 goals and 13 assists – quite a successful campaign.’I had no doubts. But I wanted to have a fresh head to make the best decision. I had other offers, in Italy and abroad, but the right decision was to stay,’ he added.It’s renewal time: Emerson, Stones, Foden in line for a pay riseAs far as their misunderstandings from Old Trafford go, the Armenian kept no secret. At United, Mkhitaryan played under Mourinho for a season-and-a-half before moving to Arsenal as part of the swap deal for Alexis Sanchez.'[My relationship] with Mourinho was the most complicated in my career; he is a winner by nature,’ he told Yevgeny Savin in March 2020. ‘He wants you to win and you do what he asks you, it is difficult for anyone.’There were differences and conflicts, but they did not have a big impact on the hard work we did and the three trophies we won.”Once Mourinho saw me at breakfast and said to me: ‘Because of you, the press criticises me,’ he added. ‘I replied: ”Really, mister? I’m not doing it on purpose.”’IT’S OFFICIAL: A leaked photo reveals that Ben White is an Arsenal playerThem not seeing eye-to-eye initially began in 2017. Mourinho benched Mkhitaryan and gave a harsh assessment of the way Henrikh was playing.’I was not happy with his last performances. I’m not speaking about one or two, I’m speaking about three, four or five. He started the season very well and after that, step by step, he was disappearing.’ Portuguese manager then said.’His performance levels in terms of goalscoring and assists, pressing, recovering the ball high up the pitch, bringing the team with him as a No.10, were decreasing.’That was enough [to drop him] because the others worked to have a chance. Everybody works to have a chance. It’s as simple as that.’Supporters of Giallorossi hope that Mkhitaryan and Mourinho have rebooted their relationship and that the two could produce some magic in the Eternal City.
