As Arsenal beat Orlando City 3-1 last night, there was a familiar unfamiliar face around the Arsenal camp: Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The 25 flew from Houston to Florida to complete the £30m move from Man City, and watch his new teammates in action, sitting alongside Edu and Chief Executive Vinai Venkatesham in the stands.
He is a player Mikel Arteta has first hand knowledge of from his time with Pep Guardiola’s side and inevitably he was asked about the signing after the game.
“Yeah, as you’ve seen he is here,” said the manager.
“There are still a few formalities to get everything completed but we’re really happy to have him. I know the player really well, he’s an exceptional footballer and he is someone that is going to bring as well another competitive edge to that dressing room.”
As for where he might play, with discussion over his ability to slot in at left back and central midfield, he continued, “He can play in both. He was a natural number 10 early in his career and we converted him into a left back which can do a lot of things that we want in our way of playing.
“That versatility is something that is going to be important for the team because we have players in that position who are more specific full back so I’m really happy.”
Unless there are unexpected complications, Zinchenko’s deal could be done in time for him to play some part against Chelsea on Sunday.
Fantastic signing for us
Absolutely amazing signing. I’m actually buzzing. If and and when this team clicks, it’s going to be special. My only concern is that we need the injury gods to give us a fxcking break.
No question. Technically very good, hard worker, intelligent, winning mentality, deals with adversity, very versatile. Ticks a lot of boxes. Very excited to see him play in red and white.
Have to agree with you he’s a huge upgrade on that side of the pitch KT will have a fight on his hands and I’m sure he’ll raise his game also.
I think Xhaka also has a fight on his hands. I’m excited to see partey zinchenco odegarrd midfield.
Defo it brings a better balance on the left side of the team, an upgrade on Cedric and possibly cover in the striker position would make for a fantastic transfer window.
Yeh exactly the sort of signing we should be making. Right age, prem experience and used to winning. As well as being pretty handy.
Still think we need another striker as back up/ plan b to the son of God up fro
We’ve got Eddie. He might not be starter material yet, but he’s definitely a more than capable backup.
We could bring in someone, but I doubt, among those who are available and who’d be willing to come play second fiddle to Jesus, will be much better than Nketiah.
I read a funny comment here weeks ago, “Unless we have a freezer full of spare legs for Partey and Tommy, we should sign cover for those positions”
Having added quality elsewhere, I wonder if we can get away with Cedric and Lokonga for the season… so we don’t disrupt the team balance.
We absolutely can’t. You can have the likes of Cedric in the side for a few weeks, they’ll do a decent job and fans will be pleasantly surprised. But keep them in the team for too long and their limitations will be exposed, and everyone remembers exactly why they’ve never been anything more for us than back up. That was our downfall last year. I’m hoping that maybe Saliba/White can deputise for Tommy if needed and take some pressure off Cedric. But considering it feels inevitable Zinchenko will be covering for (and perhaps even usurping at some point) Tierney at… Read more »
No, we definitely can’t. They need replacing, especially Cedric. I cannot, for the life of me, believe the naivety with which some people are STILL bailing him (Cedric) and Tavares out, We saw more than enough reasons why they can no longer be trusted, especially during the run-in, which ultimately fell apart because our weakest players (Laca, Tavares and Cedric) couldn’t be carried by the rest of the team. We’ve addressed both the Laca and Tavares issues – but we will needlessly drop points, no question about it, if Tommi picks up another lengthy injury this season – unless Arteta… Read more »
We finished 5th because we don’t score enough goals.
Of the 5 games we lost in the final 10 matches we scored 1 goal and we lost those games because we had no control in midfield not because our full backs weren’t good enough
Maitland-Niles could easily cover at right-back, and we discovered at the end of last season that Elneny is decent cover for Partey, hence renewing his contract.
We finished 5th because we didn’t score enough goals AND we conceded too many.
If your fullbacks aren’t good enough, your opponents have more freedom down the wings to create chances and more chances means more goals.
It ain’t rocket science.
Cedric and Tavares are currently our weakest links in defence. No question.
Unless we get rid of them, then they will continue to hold back this club from progressing – God forbid Arteta has to select either of them again.
Fantastic news. I think he will slot in more in midfield than at LB but what cover/competition for KT he will be, given how bug a weakness that has been since KT arrived.
I have a feeling we might be done with incomings now – time to get some money in !
Yes I think some outgoings are inevitable and possibly where we might not think.