Best Alternatives to Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Top 3 Alternatives to Henrikh Mkhitaryan

1. 1.Manuel Locatelli82% DNA match·Juventus€25.0M
2. 2.Bryan Cristante82% DNA match·Roma€7.0M
3. 3.Mario Götze83% DNA match·Eintracht Frankfurt€3.5M

Ranked by AI DNA similarity — 768 dimensions across playing style, pressing intensity, and tactical fit.

Playing Style Analysis

A Metronome. Statistically, he stands out as comfortable with both feet, a constant goal threat (3.2 shots/90), a regular goalscorer (0.24 goals/90), active in the tackle (2.1 tackles/90), central to possession (77 touches/90) and a high-intensity presser (press score 3.5/90), constantly disrupting opposition build-up. Note: this profile is based on 737 minutes of playing time this season. The three most similar players to Henrikh Mkhitaryan by playing style are:

• Manuel Locatelli(82% match) — Locatelli has spent years being the midfielder that makes everything work without ever making the highlight reel—and the numbers finally prove why that matters. Operating in Serie A's congested midfield battles, he ranks in the top 5% for passes per 90, tackles won, press intensity, and passes into the final third simultaneously; finding a player who dominates all four categories at once is genuinely rare. The counterintuitive read here is his goal contribution figures, which look pedestrian until you understand he's essentially the engine redistributing possession upward—those 15-plus progressive passes per 90 are what create the chances others finish.
• Bryan Cristante(82% match) — Cristante has quietly become one of Serie A's most underrated distribution engines — a midfielder who doesn't dazzle but consistently moves teams forward with purpose. His passes into the final third rank in the top 5% of the league, which tells the real story: this isn't a recycler, it's a progressor. The counterintuitive read on his average key pass numbers is that Cristante is threading balls *into* dangerous areas, not completing the final action himself — he's the architect before the architect.
• Mario Götze(83% match) — A Creator. Statistically, he stands out as a capable chance creator (1.1 key passes/90), heavily involved in play (68 touches/90) and active off the ball (2.6 press score/90), contributing to defensive transitions. However, he loses possession under pressure (1.9 dispossessed/90).

Similarity is calculated using per-90 performance data across multiple playing style dimensions. How Player DNA matching works →