Mikel Arteta breaks silence on Oleksandr Zinchenko move from Man City to Arsenal

21.07.2022 - 13:17 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described Oleksandr Zinchenko as "an exceptional footballer" as the Ukrainian's transfer from Manchester City nears completion.

City and Arsenal have agreed a fee of around £30m for the 25-year-old, who left City's pre-season camp in Houston on Tuesday to fly to Orlando to complete the deal.

While City ideally wanted to keep Zinchenko - who they signed for just £1.7m in 2016 - the Ukraine international wanted more game time after playing a squad player role in recent years. It's also believed that the opportunity to link up with Arteta, who worked closely with Zinchenko while he was Pep Guardiola's assistant coach at City between 2016 and 2019, played a part in the player's decision.

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The deal has not been officially announced by either club yet, but the Arsenal coach has broken his silence on the news.

"He's here, there are still a few formalities to get everything completed, but really happy to have him," Arteta said. "I know the player really well, he's an exceptional footballer and is someone who is going to bring another competitive edge to the dressing room."

When asked exactly where in the Arsenal team Zinchenko will slot in, Arteta was open to the possibility of the Ukrainian playing in midfield, something he was rarely able to do at City. "He can play in both [left-back and midfield]. He was a natural number 10 earlier in his career, we [City] converted him into a left-back who can do a lot of things we want in our way of playing.

"That versatility is something that is going to be important for the team because we have other players in that position who are more