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Jose Mourinho has revealed Henrikh Mkhitaryan did not start for Manchester United against Leicester or Bournemouth because Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata were the 'best options' for the team.

Mkhitaryan was signed from Borussia Dortmund last month in a £26.3m deal and started the first three pre-season games against Wigan, Dortmund and Galatasaray.

However, the Armenian was on the bench for Wayne Rooney's testimonial against Everton, as well as the Community Shield and last week's Premier League opener.

Lingard and Mata scored in the latter victories and Mourinho lengthily discussed their selections ahead of Mkhitaryan.

"Options," Mourinho replied when asked about Mkhitaryan's recent omissions. "I went to the game against Leicester and I was reading the game and I thought we needed the speed of Jesse Lingard.

"And against Bournemouth, I thought they wanted to press really high, and a player like Mata coming inside could reach some spaces behind the lines of pressure and it could be very useful for us. And I decided to play Rooney both games in that position close to Zlatan and I didn't start with Mikhy.

"Some managers when they buy players, when it is their decision to buy players, the first thing they think is to protect themselves and to protect their choices. The players they buy have to play all the time. I am not like this. Before me comes the team, and what I think is the best for the team.

"In those two matches, Mata and Lingard were the best options for the team, adapted to the reality of the Premier League so I made that decision.

"But Mkhitaryan is a super football player and he will be given a lot of opportunities this season."