The Transfermarkt periodical published the transfer rating of football players of former USSR countries. The highest transfer values recorded during the players’ careers were taken into account. The Italian “Napoli” forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose value reached the peak of his career in 2023, is 85 million euros. Ukrainian forward of “Chelsea” Mikhail Mudrik, whose transfer fee in 2023 was 60 million euros, is in second place. The top three was completed by another Ukrainian legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko, whose value in 2006 was 51 million euros. According to this indicator, the former captain of the Armenian national team, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, is in 5th place. In 2007, when Mkhitaryan was performing in “Borussia” Dortmund, his transfer was 37 million euros.
Mkhitaryan is the only Armenian football player who played in 3 of the top-5 leagues: Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A. Having started his career in “Pyunik” of Yerevan, he moved to “Metalurg” of Donetsk in 2009, where he played 46 matches and scored 17 goals. In 2010, he signed a contract with Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the strongest Ukrainian clubs. The transfer amounted to 7.5 million euros. Standing out with brilliant performances, Mkhitaryan scored 44 goals in 106 matches for Shakhtar. In the summer of 2013, Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved from “Shakhtar” to “Borussia” football club in the German city of Dortmund. For his transfer, “Borussia” paid 27.5 million euros to the Ukrainian club, with which Henrich became the most expensive acquisition of the Dortmund club. The news about Mkhitaryan’s transfer became a reason for great discussions at that time. Many media reported that “Liverpool” wants to buy Mkhitaryan, but later news also spread that the deal will not take place due to a disagreement with a third party. Mkhitaryan’s transfer could be classified as a complex transfer transaction, as the transfer rights of the footballer belonged to 3 parties: Shakhtar, Pyunik and Oleg Mkrtchyan, the owner of Donetsk Metallurg. In addition, Mkhitaryan did not want to return to “Shakhtar” in any way, and the Ukrainian club had no intention of making compromises and letting go of its leader. However, after long and mixed negotiations, “Borussia” was able to come to a common denominator regarding the transfer of the “Shakhtar” player.
Anyway, having played 141 matches in “Borussia”, Mkhitaryan became the author of 41 goals. 2016 The Armenian footballer moved to “Manchester United” with a transfer fee of 40 million euros, scoring 13 goals in 63 games. In January 2018, Mkhitaryan appeared in “Arsenal”, where he scored 9 goals in 59 games. In 2019, Mkhitaryan moved to “Roma” on loan, signed a contract with this team in 2022. At the end of 2023, the Armenian football player signed a new contract with the Italian team. The contract is scheduled until June 30, 2026. The total transfer amount of the Armenian football player is 112.8 million euros. “Inter” is Mkhitaryan’s 8th club.
Let’s remind that in March 2022, Mkhitaryan announced that he will end his performance in the national team of Armenia. He is the best scorer of the national team of Armenia, and from 2015 to March 2022, the captain. The best scorer in the history of the Armenian national team with 32 goals scored in 95 matches. He was recognized as the best football player of Armenia 11 times.
