Arsenal are desperately looking for someone to play as a striker after Kai Havertz sustained a serious injury.
Havertz will miss the rest of the season after suffering a hamstring tear in a freak accident in training during the Gunners’ warm weather camp in Dubai.
The German is Arsenal’s top scorer across all competitions with 15 goals, and will thus be a huge loss to Mikel Arteta’s team.
Leandro Trossard is the most likely replacement, although the Belgian won’t be able to play every single minute, meaning an alternative option will need to be sourced.
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Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko used to be a striker
Mikel Merino has been touted as a potential striker for Arsenal, although the Spaniard lacks the technical quality in certain areas of his game to be deployed in this role.
Declan Rice has claimed that he could play up front for the Gunners, but the Englishman is so imperative to the team’s midfield that it’s unlikely he’ll be granted an opportunity as a number nine.
Instead, Oleksandr Zinchenko could be a surprise candidate to fill the back-up role to Trossard.
The Ukrainian has fallen in the pecking order at left-back, and is firmly behind the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori, starting just four games in all competitions.
However, the ex-Manchester City man did reveal to Arsenal.com back in December 2022 that he began his career as a centre-forward.
“I was a striker myself when I started,” Zinchenko said.
“Then I was a left winger, then midfield, now a left-back. Maybe I will finish as a centre-back or a goalkeeper!”
Should Oleksandr Zinchenko play as a striker for Arsenal?
It’s not unusual for footballers to start their careers as strikers and then to slowly move further back on the pitch.
That does suggest that Zinchenko has no real credentials to play as a number nine.
However, such is the desperate nature of the situation Arsenal find themselves in, it’s not too outlandish to believe that the Ukraine international could play some minutes up front.
In a very specific game state, Zinchenko may actually be the ideal option to bring on late in games.
Boasting supreme technical quality and exceptional passing abilities, the left-back could be introduced up top when Arsenal are looking to close games out in the next few weeks.
He wouldn’t operate as a traditional number nine, but would offer technical security and the ability to retain the ball high up the pitch in pressure situations, which are useful traits to have in your striker when holding onto a lead.
It’s certainly not an ideal solution for the long-term, but Zinchenko as a striker is far from the worst option left to Arteta.
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