Premier League newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers reportedly wanted Manchester City’s Zinchenko this summer.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how they go in. And Ukraine’s last-gasp UEFA Nations League winner away to the Czech Republic on Thursday night was the prime example of exactly that.
With the scores tied at 1-1, the Czech’s made a real mess of a hopeful ball into the box, leaving Oleksandr Zinchenko free to tap home a valuable second goal in the dying seconds.
The 21-year-old might have just been happy to get some minutes on the board over the international break. He has not played a single minute of first-team football for Manchester City this season after failing to seal a move away in the summer and now appears to be stuck in limbo until January.
Not that there was a shortage of interest. Wolves had agreed a £16 million fee with the Premier League champions, only for Zinchenko to reject a move to a club who had managed to lure Rui Patricio, Joao Moutinho and co to Molineux, as reported by the Telegraph.
Celtic even expressed an interest in signing the one-time PSV loanee late in the transfer window, according to ABC. And, with four months on the sidelines seemingly ahead of him, Zinchenko could be forgiven for wishing he had joined either Wolves or the Hoops before it was too late.
Although his match-winning display for Ukraine is a major positive in a frustrating season.
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