Oleksandr Zinchenko

Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Zinchenko (Олександр Володимирович Зінченко; born 15 December 1996) is a Ukrainian professional footballer who plays as a left-back or midfielder for club Arsenal and the Ukraine national team.

On 9 December 2013, he scored a goal in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United in the 2013–14 UEFA Youth League.

He moved with his parents to Russia due to the war in Donbas.

Shakhtar Donetsk wanted him back despite offering no playing time, but he did not return for security reasons.

He spent between five and six months in the amateur leagues in Moscow.

He then trained with Rubin Kazan but the club did not sign him to a contract since Zinchenko was still under contract to Shakhtar, and Rubin would risk incurring a transfer ban if they attempted to sign him.

A full Ukrainian international since 2015, Zinchenko represented his country at UEFA Euro 2020.

Zinchenko was born in Radomyshl, Zhytomyr Oblast.

He is a product of Youth Sporitve School Karpatiya of his native Radomyshl (with first coach Serhiy Boretskyi), FC Monolit Illichivsk and Shakhtar Donetsk, where he became the captain of the youth team.

On 12 February 2015, he signed a contract with Ufa.

He made his Russian Premier League debut for Ufa on 20 March 2015 in a match against FC Krasnodar.

On 25 July 2015, he scored his first goal in a 1–2 defeat against FC Rostov.

Zinchenko began his career at Russian Premier League team Ufa before joining Manchester City in 2016 for a fee around £1.7 million.

A versatile player, he started his career as an attacking midfielder, but eventually converted into a left-back under Pep Guardiola.

He won four Premier League titles, four EFL Cups and an FA Cup with the club.

He moved to Arsenal in July 2022 for a fee of £30 million.

On 4 July 2016, Zinchenko signed for Premier League club Manchester City for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £1.7 million.

The move surprised some.

However, he was described by a Russian football scout as a "real talent", with Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund also monitoring him.

Zinchenko was loaned to Eredivisie club PSV on 26 August, for the 2016–17 season.

He made his debut on 1 October, as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against SC Heerenveen.

Zinchenko returned to Manchester City for the 2017–18 season, and made his debut on 24 October 2017, playing the full match including extra time in a 0–0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup.

He made his first Premier League appearance on 13 December 2017, coming off the bench in a 4–0 away win at Swansea City.

On 18 December 2017, Zinchenko scored the winning penalty kick against Leicester City after a 1–1 stalemate in regulation time, sending Manchester City through to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.

Zinchenko gained an extended run in the side following injuries to left backs Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph, putting in a number of consistent performances in the position.

Zinchenko made his first appearance of the 2018–19 season in a 3–0 away win at Oxford United in the EFL Cup.

In the same week, he made his first league start of the season in a 2–0 home win against Brighton & Hove Albion, due to injuries to Mendy and Delph.

Zinchenko scored his first goal for Manchester City in the EFL Cup semi-final against Burton Albion on 9 January 2019, a 9–0 home win.

In June 2019, he signed a new contract with the club, to keep him with them until 2024.

On 25 October 2019, Zinchenko had a knee surgery in Barcelona.

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola told that the recovery from the injury would take from 5 to 6 weeks: "He had a contact with a knee. He felt something in the bone and had to stop. He had something to clean up the knee. It was not a big issue. Five or six weeks."

At the beginning of December 2019, Zinchenko returned to full training.

On 11 December 2019, he played his first game after the injury against Dinamo Zagreb.

On 4 January 2020, he scored his second goal for Manchester City in a 4–1 win over Port Vale in the FA Cup.

On 4 May 2021, Zinchenko was a part of the starting XI that saw Manchester City qualify for their first UEFA Champions League final, after beating Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 on the night and 4–1 on aggregate.

On 29 May, he later started that Champions League Final, which his team lost 1–0 against Chelsea.

On the final matchday of the 2021–22 season, he came on as a substitute and earned an assist against Aston Villa, overturning a two-goal deficit to eventually win the game 3–2 to hand him his fourth Premier League medal.

On 22 July 2022, Zinchenko signed for Premier League club Arsenal on a long-term contract for a reported fee of £30 million, potentially rising to £32 million in add-ons.

On 5 August, he made his club debut and registered his first assist with the club, in a 2–0 away win against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

On 18 February 2023, Zinchenko scored his first Arsenal and Premier League goal, which was Arsenal's second in an eventual 4–2 win away over Aston Villa.