Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho explains why he dropped 'disappearing' Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Mkhitaryan sat out of last weekend's win over Newcastle and the midweek defeat to Basel

Henrikh Mkhitaryan's form has tailed off after a promising start to the season (Getty)

Jose Mourinho, the Manchester United manager, has said that he dropped Henrikh Mkhitaryan from his first-team plans because the playmaker was “disappearing” in games.

Mkhitaryan was left out of the matchday squads for last weekend's 4-1 Premier League victory over Newcastle United and also sat out of Wednesday's limp 1-0 Champions League defeat against Basel despite travelling to Switzerland and carrying no fitness problems.

The Armenian, who had appeared in all of United's league fixtures prior to Newcastle's visit, made a productive start to the season, registering five assists in his opening three games.

Mkhitaryan's returns soon dried up however, with just a solitary Premier League goal and no assists to his name since the September international break, and Mourinho claims to have dropped the 28-year-old after noticing how his displays had tailed off.

“I was not happy with his last performances,” the United manager said. “I’m not speaking about one or two, I’m speaking about three, four or five. He started the season very well and after that step by step he was disappearing.

“His performance levels in terms of goal scoring and assists, high pressing, recovering the ball high up the pitch, bringing the team with him as a No 10, were decreasing step by step.

“That was enough because the others worked to have a chance. Everybody works to have a chance. It’s as simple as that.”

​Mourinho did, however, say that Mkhitaryan would return to the matchday squad for Saturday's meeting with Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford.

“I still have one training session but, for sure, he will be back in the group. For him to be back to the group, it means that somebody is going to leave the group,” he said.

“Maybe the next press conference tomorrow after the match you are asking me why (a) was not on the pitch or why (b) was not even selected.

Mourinho added: “That’s life. Rules are like this. Only 11 plus seven. When you have a chance and the performance is not what you expect, that’s normal. That’s life. You have to perform.”