According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal have registered their interest in Manchester City full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko as Arteta looks to bolster his squad for the 2022/23 season.
The left-back position has remained a cause of concern for the manager because Kieran Tierney is an injury-prone player whereas Nuno Tavares has turned out to be a very mediocre signing.
Arteta has more or less sorted out the right-hand side of defence thanks to the signing of Tomiyasu and now he has to bring in a constant performer for the left-hand side – hence the interest in Zinchenko.
This is no doubt an ambitious move and even though Manchester City have hinted that they are ready to let the player leave, we don’t think this transfer will materialize, for a couple of reasons.
Oleksandr Zinchenko appreciation tweet. What a man. 💙🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/Whl7sK6fUF
— Manchestericonic™ (@manchestriconic) May 22, 2022
The transfer fee will be a hurdle:
According to Sam Dean of the Daily Telegraph, City will not stand in Zinchenko’s way if he wishes to leave but they expect a very high transfer fee.
His current market value is around £22.5 million but since he still has two more years left on his current deal, City will not let him leave for cheap.
We doubt if Arsenal can afford to pay around £30-35 million for the full-back now that they have missed out on Champions League football.
Arsenal leading the race to sign Aaron Hickey:
It’s being claimed that Arsenal are leading the race to sign Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey and at £21 million, that deal will make much more sense.
Hickey will be more than happy to play second-fiddle next season and since he is just 19 years old, the Scottish international has time and the ability to improve his skills.
Oleksandr Zinchenko will want consistent game time at Arsenal:
If the 25-year-old is moving to Arsenal, he will want to be the first-choice left-back next season and this will be a very challenging decision for Mikel Arteta.
Just a few years ago, they spent a good amount of money on Kieran Tierney and despite his injuries, the former Celtic man has impressed, whenever he’s played for the Gunners.
It makes no sense to spend so much money on a player who will have to fight for his place in the first XI because what the Gunners basically need is a backup left-back who can fill in for those tricky Thursday night fixtures.
