Bear in mind the Armenian never had any fitness struggles before joining United. In six years at Shakhtar Donetsk and Dortmund, he missed 16 weeks with injury. That’s an average year for most Arsenal players.

In the 2015/16 season, Mkhitaryan played 52 matches, and completed the full 90 minutes on 40 occasions. He missed just eight days of the season with knocks or rests. Under Mourinho, the Armenian played 90 minutes three times in the league in 2016/17, and zero times in 2017/18.

Arsenal can afford to play the 29-year-old more often. In fact, they’ll probably want to, considering how poorly the alternatives performed in Sanchez’s absence. It’s a simple thing, but game time is very important for players, and Mkhitaryan should get it here.

The second thing that should help is Mkhitaryan can play as a wide playmaker with Arsenal. In his final season with Dortmund, the Armenian played 43 matches on the wings, and just seven as an attacking midfielder. It’s the complete reverse right now, as he’s played 14 matches in midfield this season, and four as a winger.

Conveniently, Arsenal want to play him out wide. That’s where Alexis Sanchez played, and that’s where the gap in the team is.

Then there’s the fact that Mkhitaryan’s possession based game is a perfect match for Arsenal. Mourinho expects a much greater defensive effort (which he’ll struggle to get out of Sanchez). The Gunners allow their forwards a lot more freedom.

That might work to the detriment of the team at times, but it certainly allows those forwards to express themselves. Mesut Özil flourished in the system and I’m sure Mkhitaryan will too. Plus I’d imagine Wenger is a lot better at guiding attacking players, from past experience.

For now, it’s all guesswork. We’ll have to wait and see how things turn out when Mkhitaryan steps onto the pitch in that Arsenal shirt.