Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Analysis of what he would bring to Liverpool

18 June 2013 15:04

According to several sources including the Liverpool Echo and the BBC, Liverpool are pressing on with their attempts to lure Armenia and Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Anfield.

It seems that Brendan Rodgers has marked the talented player his number one target for the summer and has been given the green light by Liverpool's owners to press on and sign the Skakhtar player who could cost in excess of £20 million, but Liverpool seem undeterred by his price tag.

He has just endured a stellar season netting 25 league goals in 28 games which is an incredible return for a midfielder in what is a far more competitive league than its given credit for.

If Liverpool manage to sign the Armenian international, this would surely bolster the attacking options available to the Liverpool manager, whose team was once again heavily reliant on Luis Suarez for goals last season.

Positional play

In one of the possible scenario’s we could see the Armenian play in that number 10 role and sit behind the main striker, drifting around and dictating play from the centre of the park, or if the opportunity presents itself using his quick bursts of pace to run at the opposing defence.

If Suarez does engineer his way out of Liverpool, then you can expect to see Mkhitaryan and Coutinho laying the ground work and setting up the plays for the striker to tap in.

Should Suarez stay then sure Liverpool's attacking line-up would look a menacing threat to the opposing team. Coutinho, Suarez and Mkhitaryan would be a recipe for goals and trickery that would surely bring Liverpool a lot closer to securing a Champions League spot as the three of them would have the ability to interchange readily and would wreak havoc and confusion on the opposition.

Finishing

As shown in the video package, it’s clear to see that Mkhitaryan is a classy finisher with an amazing set skill set and technique, he has amazing bursts of pace from the midfield, and he isn't afraid to run at defenders at full pace and having that great touch to drift past them to either get a shot away at goal or set up a team mate.

Movement

Another big part of what Mkhitaryan brings to the game is his intelligent movement. His bursts from midfield into the opponent’s box were frequently rewarded and frequently went untracked.

Surely he would get marked closer in the Premier League, and his failure to score against anybody, bar Nordsjaelland, in the Champions League last season may also be of concern, but there's no doubt Mkhitaryan has an intuitive sense of where to be and when to get there.

If Liverpool cant bring in the midfielder, they would be aquring a player with great talent and an abundance of technical ability, world class finishing and a flawless work rate.

Source: DSG