Former Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea Lucescu, who currently trains Turkey's national football team, has come out in defence of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, noting that the Armenian was one of the best players he ever worked with, The Manchester Evening News says.

Mkhitaryan hasn’t made a start for Manchester United since an abysmal showing at No.10 during the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea over a month ago.

And when asked about the 28-year-old’s recent exile on Wednesday night, Jose Mourinho notably insisted that there were more players deserving of a place in his squad at this moment in time.

But Lucescu, who oversaw Mkhitaryan’s time at Shakhtar, said in an interview with Romanian Telekomsport.ro that the Armenian was a player whose potential was underappreciated by managers.

“An important player was Henrikh Mkhitaryan who came from Armenia, a country that has never produced high-quality players,” he said.

“He made a huge leap, mostly thanks to himself and his family. He is very intelligent, he speaks five or six languages.”

“He is one of the best players I have ever trained.”