Henrikh Mkhitaryan has told FourFourTwo he wanted to join Arsenal because he "missed playing offensively" at Manchester United and was not signed to replace Alexis Sanchez.

Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal in January in a swap deal for Sanchez and has had a flying start at the Emirates with two goals and six assists in 11 games.

It is a turnaround for his recent form at United, where he had fallen out of favour with Jose Mourinho, and Mkhitaryan seemed to aim another dig at the Portuguese manager's playing style.

"When I heard I could swap Man United for Arsenal, I said, 'Yes, I want to do that,'" Mkhitaryan said. "I didn't think twice. It's important for me to play in an offensive team.

"I couldn't have imagined a better start. I'd missed playing offensively. I joined Arsenal because [Arsene] Wenger wanted me, not because he wanted to replace Sanchez. We are different players and characters, with different abilities and skills, so I'll try my best to do everything for the club."

While Arsenal are in sixth place in the Premier League, Mkhitaryan has a chance to win the Europa League for the second year in a row.

Arsenal host CSKA Moscow in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Thursday, and the Armenian made no secret of his ambition to deliver trophies to the club.

"I want to write my name into Arsenal's history and have my name as a legend here," he said. "I want to score goals, make assists and win trophies to make the fans happy."