Henrikh Mkhitaryan was seven years old when his father Hamlet died from a brain tumour.
A striker who won two caps for the Armenia national team, Hamlet brought his young family back from France to spend his final days in their home town of Yerevan, having left a year before Henrikh was born in the wake of a devastating earthquake that killed 25,000 people and left half a million homeless.
Three operations had failed to cure his illness and he passed away at the age of 33 in May 1996, leaving behind his wife Marina Taschyan, young Henrikh and daughter Monica.
Mkhitaryan remembers sitting by the door and crying when his father wouldn’t take him to training at Valence or Issy, his clubs in France. But he clearly passed on something to his son because those who saw them both play have been struck by the similarity in their attacking styles.
It has served Henrikh well. Captain of Armenia, as well as his country’s all-time top goalscorer and most famous footballing export, he is now a Manchester United player.
Mkhitaryan — or Micki to his team-mates — is proud to speak about the driving force behind his career.
‘Because of him, when we came back to Armenia it was my dream to continue his work and to be a good player also,’ says the 27-year-old, who moved to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund for £26.3million last month. ‘He was my motivation because when I was young he was playing football professionally and I was always dreaming of going with him to the training ground. I couldn’t understand that I would disturb him during training because I was a child. I hope he’s proud looking at me from the sky. I try to do everything to make him proud.
‘I watched his videos many times when I was young but now they’re just memories. I’m sad because I think he could help me with his words and support. It’s very difficult when you grow up without a father because you don’t have a man who can give you direction and discipline.
‘My mother was both my mother and father, so I’m thankful to her and all the people who were next to me at that time. So I think that life continues.’
An articulate player who speaks six languages, he is determined not to waste his opportunity, saying: ‘I am always doing the maximum because after my career I want to sit down and think I’ve done something good — I won this title or that title. People will talk about your titles.’ – Daily Mail