Oleksandr Zinchenko, Bukayo Saka and others warming up for Arsenal (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has claimed that last season was the worst of his entire career after falling out of favour with Mikel Arteta.
The Ukraine international initially looked like an exciting signing when he joined from Manchester City in the summer of 2022, becoming an automatic starter and putting in some fine displays for the Gunners.
However, Zinchenko’s form dipped a little in his second season and he couldn’t get back into the starting line up.
This was made even harder for him when Riccardo Calafiori joined last summer, which was then also followed by the superb first-team breakthrough of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Oleksandr Zinchenko on losing the trust of Mikel Arteta
Oleksandr Zinchenko in action for Arsenal in pre-season (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images)
Speaking in an upcoming autobiography, as quoted by the Athletic, Zinchenko made it pretty clear how unhappy he’s been with his backup role at Arsenal.
“I was basically out of the starting XI altogether, bar a few isolated matches,” he said.
“In pure personal terms, it was easily the worst season I ever experienced as a professional.”
He added: “Going from one of the established players of the side to unused sub is much harder to deal with. The sense of rejection you feel if your manager no longer believes in you can take the stuffing out of you, even if you’re the most resilient guy on the planet.
“Sitting on the bench in the Premier League for a very generous wage packet is obviously still a privilege, the kind of problem that billions of people on this planet would swap their much tougher lives for in a heartbeat. Trust me, as a Ukrainian, I’m aware of that. Every single minute.
“But every footballer started playing because they love to play the game. A big part of your life is missing without it.
“Imagine this little boy who’s dedicated his entire existence to becoming good at one particular thing and then finds at 28 that he’s essentially no longer needed, that there are others who can do the job for him. It’s not a nice feeling.”
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