Inter midfielder Henrikh Hamlet Mkhitaryan enters the 2025-26 Serie A title defence as the fixed point in a midfield that Cristian Chivu's squad is actively trying to reshape around him. The Armenian, 37, contributed four goals and one assist across 29 league appearances last season, carrying an average rating of 7.00 as the Nerazzurri claimed the championship with 86 points from 37 matches.
The significance of that consistency is sharpened by what is happening in the transfer market around him. Inter's pursuit of reinforcements has stalled on multiple fronts — targets have been missed, fringe players moved on, and the club's ownership is being pressed to commit further funds. Franco Carboni has departed on a permanent deal to Parma. Curtis Jones remains a live option from Liverpool, but the operation requires a financial commitment that has not yet materialised. In that context, Mkhitaryan's renewed contract is not merely a sentimental gesture toward a veteran — it is structural. Chivu's Inter cannot currently replace what he provides, and the club knows it.
What Mkhitaryan provides is harder to reduce to a single number than his goals tally suggests. Four goals from a deep-lying midfielder across 29 matches is a meaningful attacking contribution, but his value to Inter's 27-win season was built on positional intelligence and ball retention in tight spaces — qualities that do not diminish as sharply with age as acceleration does. An AI overall rating of 77 out of 100, with a potential ceiling of 72, reflects a player who has already exceeded projections and is operating above his modelled ceiling.
The midfield picture at Inter remains unsettled. Davide Frattesi has attracted interest from Juventus, and the club is reportedly weighing sales to fund incoming business. If Frattesi leaves, the burden on Mkhitaryan — already carrying 29 appearances last season — would increase at precisely the age when load management becomes non-negotiable. Chivu will need to balance the Armenian's minutes carefully against a title defence that begins with Inter as the standard every other club in Serie A is chasing.
At 37, Mkhitaryan is not the future of this squad. He is, for now, its connective tissue — the player who makes the system function while the club works out what the next version of itself looks like.