Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has enjoyed a successful career so far, but he endured a difficult start.
Zinchenko spent four years in the youth system at Shakhtar Donetsk, and he was a huge emerging talent within the club. However, he would never play a game for them.
The Ukrainian eventually found himself thrust into the first team at Manchester City, where he won four Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola, before following Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal under Mikel Arteta.
The 27-year-old was excellent in his first season, helping raise Arsenal’s level to a title-challenging side, but injuries and poor form have now disrupted him, and he has fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates.
It is a problem he has faced before, both at Man City and Shakhtar, and he does not look back on his time at the Ukrainian club too fondly.
Why Oleksandr Zinchenko forced Shakhtar Donetsk exit
When Zinchenko was progressing through the ranks at Shakhtar, he faced a lot of competition. Shakhtar had signed several top Brazilian talents, including Douglas Costa, Willian and Alex Texeira, and his prospects of immediate game time were slim.
As per The Guardian, Zinchenko questioned his role at the club, with the idea of being a bit-part player to be sent out on loan an unappealing one. He did not like the answer Shakhtar gave him, and refused to sign a new contract.
“I briefly thought about giving up. This was the darkest hour. I felt invisible,” Zinchenko later revealed, as he left Shakhtar without playing a single game.
Zinchenko moved to Russian side Ufa, where he caught the attention of Guardiola, who brought him to Man City.
However, despite his success there, Zinchenko traded the Etihad for the Emirates in search of more game time, but two years after his arrival, he is again finding himself on the fringes.
Oleksandr Zinchenko facing uncertain Arsenal future
Arteta has claimed that Zinchenko will have a “big role” to play this season, but as it stands, both Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber are ahead of him in the pecking order at left-back.
Zinchenko was the subject of criticism last season, and has just over 18 months left on his contract.
Given that his previous moves, both away from Shakhtar and Man City, were motivated by a desire for more game time, it seems unlikely that Zinchenko will settle for a backup role in the long term at Arsenal.
If he cannot recover his best form and maintain his fitness, then Zinchenko’s future will surely be called into question next summer ahead of a potential exit.
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