Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed that he would always watch Kieran Tierney play for Arsenal while he was at Manchester City.
The Gunners brought the Ukrainian from Pep Guardiola’s side last month. Zinchenko can play anywhere across central midfield and also at left-back. His versatility is one of the biggest reasons why he’s so highly rated, and Mikel Arteta loves that trait in a player.
So far in Arsenal’s colours, Zinchenko has started only at left-back – a position that previously belonged to Tierney.
Zinchenko says he always used to watch Tierney play for Arsenal
After his excellent display against Leicester City, Zinchenko made way for Tierney. The Ukrainian was asked about the Arsenal number three after the game, and he revealed that the Scotsman has been one of the players he has always admired.
Zinchenko told The Evening Standard: “He is an amazing player. Even when I was at City I was watching his games.
“I think it is good competition for each of us. We are going to push each other, and I think that’s the key. That’s how we need to move on.
“The most important thing is both of us want to try and help the team as much as we can.”
The Insider’s View:
After Tierney suffered a season-ending injury last term, Arsenal really struggled at left-back.
Nuno Tavares was the backup and the Portuguese youngster is a talented player. However, he wasn’t ready to play week in, week out in the Premier League just yet. Arteta had no choice but to play him, and that cost us on more than one occasion.
This season, we won’t have that issue at all. Arsenal have two world-class players at left-back in Zinchenko and Tierney, and irrespective of who plays, Arteta will be confident that they can get the job done.
Tierney has come on as a substitute for Zinchenko in each of Arsenal’s two Premier League games so far this season. It’s likely that the same will happen against Bournemouth this weekend.
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