According to The Athletic, Arsenal are now prioritising a move for Oleksandr Zinchenko this summer.
The Gunners are keen to bring the 25-year-old to the Emirates this summer, and according to the ever-reliable David Ornstein, a deal is being worked on.
Fortunately for Arsenal, this could be a rather simple transfer. Manchester City are reportedly open to letting Zinchenko leave if their asking price is met, but, as of yet, that hasn’t happened.
Of course, this wouldn’t be the only time Arsenal have done business with City this summer.
Gabriel Jesus is the Gunners’ most recent summer addition, and it looks like the next player through the door could be the Brazilian’s former teammate.
The links between Mikel Arteta and Manchester City are obvious. After all, the Spaniard was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the Etihad for a number of years, and it looks like the Arsenal gaffer is keen to reunite with another player he knows well.
This move for Zinchenko comes after Arsenal were knocked back in their pursuit of Lisandro Martinez. And after The Athletic reported that the Gunners planned to use the Argentine as a left-back, this may well be the north London club’s backup plan.
However, that isn’t to say that Zinchenko will play left-back if he joins Arsenal.
As we’ve seen with his national team, the Ukrainian is also a very competent midfielder, and with Kieran Tierney being firmly first-choice at left-back for Arsenal, one would imagine that Zinchenko will be utilised as more of a midfielder.
This move has been in the pipeline for a little while. Arsenal were linked a couple of months ago, while Jack Wilshere urged the Gunners to make this transfer happen just last three weeks ago.
Now, this one seems to finally be accelerating and it’s very possible that Zinchenko will be the Gunners’ fourth summer addition.
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