Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is relishing Inter Milan’s status as reigning Serie A champions and is determined to secure another Scudetto. In an interview, with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Mkhitaryan expressed his excitement about the upcoming season and shared his thoughts on the new additions to the Nerazzurri squad.
The championship is just around the corner. So, it’s not trivial to ask: how are you? How is Inter?
“We’re almost there, starting again. We need to do things right. We’re working excellently, even though many players have returned at different times. But you can see everyone is giving their best to get in shape and start the season in the best way possible; no one wants to fall behind.”
Last season, around this time in Japan, you boldly declared that the goal was to achieve the second star. No superstition there, you were right. So, let’s try again: what’s happening this year?
“The goal remains the same. We are Inter; the goal is to lift trophies. Just like last year, everyone knows we will fight to win the Scudetto again. Overall, we want to do better than last year. In the Champions League, the aim is to go even further. Then there’s the Club World Cup: it’s something distant for now, but it’s fascinating.”
Let’s be more direct: inside the locker room, do you feel the same atmosphere, the same confidence as a year ago?
“Of course, I guarantee it. And I’ll tell you more: three new players have arrived, Taremi, Zielinski, and Martinez, who will give us great help throughout the season. They are very strong and will help us a lot. Our strength is precisely this: a team where everyone has the chance to play. If we help each other, there’s a better chance of winning matches.”
You speak like a leader. As a leader, answer this: what is the biggest challenge in repeating success?
“Winning after having already done so is a complicated task because you’re led to think everything might be easier. But we were good at making it so last year. Now we’re ready for this challenge; I call it that. We want to experience the same emotions as a year ago; they are still with us. We’re not a young team; we’re not kids; we don’t lose our heads: we know we won the championship, but we don’t feel satisfied, we’re not full. It will be tougher; there’s more pressure on us because we’re the champions in everyone’s eyes. And other teams are signing many players to close last year’s gap. We’ll do everything not to fail.”
In 2022, you arrived, and people think: great, an excellent alternative. Then you always play. Last year, Frattesi arrives, and Micki doesn’t even accidentally go to the bench. Now Zielinski has been signed. Okay, we already know how it will end…
“I don’t see it that way. But it’s not modesty. I think differently. We have 25 players; everyone is a starter. I’m serious, it’s not just a saying. This is the way to win. Everyone is capable of playing; there’s no predetermined hierarchy: we’re all here to help each other, to work, to fight for the same goal. At Inter, the word ‘benchwarmer’ doesn’t exist.”
How does it feel when you hear people say Mkhitaryan is the smartest player at Inter?
“It makes me happy… but I don’t lose my head, I’m not a kid anymore, I don’t go crazy if people speak well of me. And certainly, at 35, I can’t have the physical qualities I had at the beginning of my career or at 25-27 years old… I have to play with my head, I have to work harder every day to be up to the task and continue at a high level.”
Say one concept, just one, that Inzaghi emphasized during this pre-season training camp.
“The coach insists that we must be ready for battle. That without work, we go nowhere. But we’re here. He’s right: there’s no other way to win the Scudetto. And we have very high motivations.”
