Since the end of the season, Manchester City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko has been reported to be considering his future at the Etihad Stadium.
Zinchenko’s biggest aspiration is to play more minutes as a midfielder, which is not where City boss Pep Guardiola has been utilising the 25 year-old during his time at the club.
When playing for his country, head coach Oleksandr Petrakov uses the versatile left-back in his desired midfield role.
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The skipper scored eight goals and contributed four assists across several competitions for his native Ukraine.
According to previous reports, playing in midfield is a must for Zinchenko, as he considers numerous offers.
In recent weeks, Arsenal have come out on top of any other clubs interested in the City player, with their most recent bid being at £30M.
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Manchester City and Arsenal recently reached a ‘verbal’ agreement over the Ukrainian midfielder.
With this development, Zinchenko’s departure from the Etihad, a place which he has called home for six seasons, is seemingly imminent.
However, Zinchenko is waiting for permission to leave Manchester City’s training camp, to join the Gunners, as per Martin Blackburn.
If he does end up in North London, he’ll be the second City player to join former Sky Blue assistant coach Mikel Arteta, after Gabriel Jesus departed the club earlier in the window.
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Currently, City are training in the United States, in a pre-season tour which features friendlies against Liga MX side Club America and defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
Arsenal are also in the US preparing for the upcoming season, playing pre-season games against Everton, MLS-side Orlando City, Chelsea, and Sevilla.
If Zinchenko exits the club in the coming days, Manchester City will lose an important squad member, who helped secure the Sky Blues their fourth title in five years.
It was Zinchenko’s substitution in the second-half against Aston Villa on the final day, which helped negate Villa’s Ollie Watkins, who had been causing City’s defence trouble during the first-half.
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Perhaps Zinchenko’s most important moment that day was his pass to Rodri in the 78th minute, allowing the Spanish star to sail the ball into the back of the net, tying the game up at 2-2.
As a replacement for the Ukrainian left-back, City bosses have been hard at work trying to acquire Marc Cucurella from Brighton, with initial reports stating that Brighton’s asking fee of £50m is too much for Manchester City.
Topics: Manchester City, Manchester City Transfer News & Rumours, Arsenal, Oleksandr Zinchenko
