London: Mikel Arteta has described Ukraine international Oleksandr Zinchenko “an exceptional footballer” with the Manchester City player set to move to Arsenal.
Video footage has surfaced on social media of the player at the Gunners’ pre-season training camp in Florida, USA, ahead of completing a transfer to the club.
Speaking after a 3-1 win over Orlando City during the Gunners’ pre-season tour in the USA, Arteta said, “As you’ve seen, he is here (in Orlando). There are still a few formalities to get everything completed but we’re really happy to have him. I know the player really well, he’s an exceptional footballer and he is someone that is going to bring us another competitive edge to that dressing room.”
Arteta also shed light on where he might deploy the Ukraine international, who played as a left-back under Pep Guardiola and is used in a midfield role at international level. “He can play in both,” added Arteta.
Zinchenko will be Arsenal’s fifth recruit of the summer after signing Gabriel Jesus (£45m), Fabio Vieira (£34m), Matt Turner (£7.5m) and Marquinhos (£3m), while Alexandre Lacazette remains the only first-team departure.
“We have a large squad. We have to make some decisions on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them and that’s a process that is going to start very soon as well. We have to, and now we have to make things happen,” he added.
–IANS