Henrikh Mkhitaryan's career at Manchester United has been a pretty odd one.

The Armenian winger was brought in from Borussia Dortmund last summer, after a blistering spell with the German side in which he established himself as an assist king and a capable goal scorer.

Sadly, his debut campaign on English shores did not exactly go to plan, with injuries and a severe lack of form leading Jose Mourinho to place very little faith in the attacker.

The likes of Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have all been used ahead of him for most of his United career.

This season, it appeared Mkhitaryan had turned a leaf, recording five assists in his first five games.

However, his form of late has been nothing short of abysmal.

MKHI MISSES NEWCASTLE GAME

When the squad was announced for United's game against Newcastle, the Armenian's name was nowhere to be seen.

Mourinho had completely left him out of the squad, despite no reports suggesting that he had picked up an injury.

NO INJURY

It turns out Mkhitaryan is fully fit and the reason Mourinho decided to leave it at home is surely pretty worrying for his United future.

He told BT Sport in his pre-match interview that the Armenian wasn't selected for 'tactical reasons'.

Ouch.

It seems the boss has completely lost faith in him and he will surely now struggle to break back into the side, particularly given the form of both Rashford and Martial.

The game against the Magpies at Old Trafford was a very positive one for fans due to the return of three key players.

MOURINHO'S BOYS ARE BACK

Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo all returned to the match day squad, meaning they have a heck of a lot more options to choose from heading into the dreaded Christmas period.

Given the number of fixtures they will play, Mkhitaryan will likely get another chance as well.