Oleksandr Zinchenko moving to Nottingham Forest did slightly surprise people at Arsenal, according to the Independent journalist Miguel Delaney.
The Ukrainian international left the Gunners on deadline day on loan for the City Ground club when it was widely believed he would remain at the North London club.
Delaney claimed in his ‘Inside Football’ bi-weekly newsletter today that it is seen as one of those moves that makes sense for everyone.
Zinchenko has found himself out of favour at Arsenal since last term, recently admitting that Gunners manager Mikel Arteta no longer believes in him following the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The 28-year-old started just seven games across the Premier League and Champions League last term and was always going to find game time harder to come by this term after Riccardo Calafiori returned to the starting line-up.
Lewis-Skelly has been providing cover for the Italian, and Zinchenko would have been the third-choice left-back had he remained at Arsenal.
He has a chance to rediscover himself at Forest as Arteta has preferred physicality over technicality in his defenders in recent months.
Unfortunately for the former Manchester City star, he will not be featuring in Europe for the first half of the campaign after he was left out of their Europa League squad for the group phase of the competition.
It is huge blow given that playing on the continent would have given him the opportunity to attract more suitors.
He will be desperate to prove the decision-makers at the club wrong with his performances between now and January.
Should he impress going forward, Forest will have no choice but to include Zinchenko in their squad for the knockout stages if they advance.
He will be a free agent at the end of the season, and he will not be short of suitors given his experience, quality and versatility.