Former Inter coach Mircea Lucescu believes that Inter will gain an extra dimension to their attack from the signing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, the Romanian tactician explained what he expects Mkhitaryan to add to the Nerazzurri based on his time coaching the Armenian at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Mkhitaryan is set to join Inter with a wealth of experience in several different leagues, having had spells with Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United, and Arsenal before joining Roma with whom he has played for the past three seasons.
It was with Shakhtar that the 33-year-old first really made his name within European football, where he established himself as a highly versatile and effective player under Lucescu’s direction.
The coach remains a fan of Mkhitaryan, and feels that he will be a very useful signing for another of his former clubs, the Nerazzurri, ahead of next season.
He explained that Mkhitaryan has “Excellent basic technique, dribbling, vision of the game, experience. He also speaks five languages, he’s the son of one of the greatest Armenian players ever.”
“If a player is intelligent, then he can also be flexible,” the coach added. “I’ve seen coaches use him on the flanks. In my Shakhtar team I played him behind the centre-forward, got him to attack the spaces, and he scored 44 goals for me.”
He continued that “There’s no questions regarding his personality, or his physical preparedness, he reads the game and acts accordingly he can play anywhere.”
“In fact,” Lucescu went on, “when I signed Texeira I moved him from the attack, and I started using him paired with Stepanenko in front of the defense, to get him used to the defensive side of the game. He also worked out well there.”
“I’ll be delighted to see with in the Nerazzurri,” he said.
Of Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi, Lucescu said that “He was quickly able to understand the spirit of the club. Inter were coming off the back of a title-winning season with Conte, they sold too top players, everyone expected Simone to fall and instead he only lost out on the Scudetto due to the match against Bologna.”
“But he added quality of play, and I’m convinced that Mkhitaryan will give them something extra,” he said.
