Inter midfielder Henrikh Hamlet Mkhitaryan has spoken publicly about the club's objectives for 2026-27, declaring that the Nerazzurri intend to win everything — and offering a pointed endorsement of Inter coach Cristian Chivu in the same breath. "We know what he is capable of," Mkhitaryan said of Chivu, in comments that also revealed a backstory behind his contract renewal in Milan.
The timing matters. Inter have just completed a Serie A season of genuine authority — 86 points from 37 matches, a goal difference of plus 54, and a title that was never seriously threatened in the final stretch. For Mkhitaryan to renew and then immediately frame next season in terms of winning everything is not bravado; it is a statement of institutional expectation from a player who has lived inside this squad long enough to know the difference between ambition and noise.
At 37, Mkhitaryan's value to Chivu's side is not measured in volume. He made 29 Serie A appearances this season, contributing four goals and one assist, and carried an average rating of 7.00 — a figure that reflects consistent, calibrated performance rather than the occasional spectacular intervention. His AI overall score of 77 out of 100 places him in a bracket that suggests a player still operating above replacement level, even if the ceiling has settled. The potential score of 72 is the one honest concession to age: the trajectory is no longer upward, but the present remains functional and, in the right system, genuinely useful.
What Chivu's Inter asks of a midfielder in Mkhitaryan's role is not athleticism in isolation. It is positional intelligence, press resistance, and the ability to make the ball move quickly in tight spaces — qualities that tend to age more gracefully than pace or aerial duels. Four goals from midfield in a title-winning campaign is not a peripheral contribution; it is the kind of output that keeps opponents honest and prevents Chivu from deploying a purely defensive profile in the center of the pitch.
The broader Inter picture entering the summer is complicated. The transfer market has produced more frustration than resolution, with several targets proving unattainable and defensive depth a genuine concern. Against that backdrop, Mkhitaryan's renewal carries a stabilizing function beyond the purely sporting. He is a known quantity in a squad that may look meaningfully different by August.
His endorsement of Chivu — a coach who himself came through the Inter system as a player — reads as more than diplomatic courtesy. It signals continuity of culture at a moment when the squad's shape is uncertain.
Mkhitaryan enters his next Inter chapter with the contract signed, the ambitions stated, and the evidence of a title-winning season behind him. At 37, that is the only argument he needs to make.