**Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has confirmed that he has “spoken” to Arsenal loanee Oleksandr Zinchenko about his future.**
The Ukrainian has recently been removed from Forest’s Europa League squad, while he was substituted at halftime during Forest’s defeat to Wrexham in the FA Cup last weekend. Asked about Zinchenko’s situation in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Dyche said:
“We’ve spoken to the player, made him clear on his situation. He’s aware of that, so we’ll see what happens. As I said, we’ll see what happens, but we’re very open with him. He’s a thorough professional – he has been, and I’m sure he will be going forwards no matter what.”
Pushed further on whether that means [**Zinchenko**](https://goonernews.com/blog/arsenal-full-back-oleksandr-zinchenko/) would be leaving the City Ground, Dyche replied:
“No, we just spoke to him about the obvious parameters and the guidelines of what’s happening. He’s played a couple of games, hasn’t featured in others. He’s been injured. That hasn’t been helpful to him or to us. I’ve just been open with him, really. It’s like I say, I’m open with all players. But I think when you’ve done as much as he has in the game, it’s more of a conversation. Not demanding anything other than just telling him the truth, as I see it. And that’s how much he can figure out, how much game time he’s going to get at this time.”
There is no recall option in Zinchenko’s loan
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Forest are not able to send the 29-year-old back to the Emirates, so that is why Dyche is being rather diplomatic about the situation.
However, it is clear that Zinchenko won’t be playing very often in the second half of the season, so some sort of resolution may need to be found.
Arsenal could send him to another club
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It may be best for all parties if Zinchenko’s time at Forest is cut short, but as the Gunners have no space for him in their squad, a new team will have to be found for him first before any agreement is reached on terminating his current loan.
As the defender has only played for Forest this campaign, he is eligible for another loan (or a potential move) if a suitor can be found. We shall see if a club steps forward before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
[**Read more about the Arsenal First Team Squad for 2025/26 here**](https://goonernews.com/blog/arsenal-first-team-squad/)