Ajax’s director of football Jordi Cruyff is speaking to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta directly about the deal for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
That’s according to journalist Mike Verweij, via Voetbal Primeur. He explains for Cruyff is working hard on deals for Ajax, including with Arsenal.
Cruyff was hired as Ajax’s technical director at the beginning of the month, tasked with getting the Dutch giants back on track.
He’s quickly set about adding players to their squad, with Maximilian Ibrahimović and Takehiro Tomiyasu already secured. There’s also been departures for the likes of Kenneth Taylor and Raul Moro.
The next name in his sights is Zinchenko. He’s currently on loan from Arsenal at Nottingham Forest but has barely featured for the latter all season. The belief is that all parties would like to cancel the loan deal this month.
Ajax are keen and have been working on a deal over the last week. A report earlier this week stated that Arsenal were negotiating a transfer fee with Ajax. That even stated that the Ukrainian could undergo a medical this week.
That progression may be due to Cruyff’s efforts on the matter. According to Verweij, he’s been on the phone to Arteta personally.
“Cruyff is very involved,” he said.
“He spent three hours in the car driving from Barcelona to Villarreal to watch that match. Cruyff is also interfering. He’s now in talks with Arteta to push that Zinchenko deal in the right direction, because that’s not going anywhere either.
“He’s already mapping things out. When you talk to people, they get excited by his enthusiasm. He’s already very busy with Ajax, but the decisions this transfer window are being made by Alex Kroes and Marijn Beuker.”