Arteta will allow a player he likes to leave the clubplaceholder image
Arteta will allow a player he likes to leave the club | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Arsenal could now allow a player to leave, but he will need to take a pay cut to make it happen.
One Arsenal player must take a pay cut if he wants to leave before Monday’s transfer deadline. The Gunners are racing the deadline to wrap up incomings and outgoings, with the latter taking priority at this stage.
The loan deal is necessary because Arsenal have spent huge amounts of money this summer, totalling more than £250million, and they have been much slower than last season when it comes to offloading unwanted players.
Part of that is Mikel Arteta wanting to maintain good depth in his squad, but there are still players who need to move on to get more regular game time. Jakub Kiwior is heading to FC Porto, and it looks as though Oleksandr Zinchenko could follow.
Zinchenko has slipped down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium, with Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly the primary options on the left, and Jurrien Timber is still likely ahead of Zinchenko.
The Ukrainian is still only 28 years of age, and he should be playing regular football at a good level, even if it’s not as high a level as Arsenal are now playing. According to David Ornstein and The Athletic, Marseille are offering Zinchenko the opportunity to move, but the defender is going to have to take a pay cut.
Ornstein posted on X: “EXCL: Marseille working on deal to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko from Arsenal. #OM exploring permanent move for 28yo defender but complicated by Ukraine int’l #AFC salary - significant issue + solution needed for deal to advance; talks ongoing @TheAthleticFC.”
Arteta a big fan of Zinchenko
Arteta may not have Zinchenko high on his list these days, but he is a big fan of the defender, and he is likely to do right by him as the defender looks for regular football. Arteta once said of Zinchenko: “First of all, his mentality. He’s used to winning – winning is the only thing and winning in the right way.
“He’s a perfectionist and a really demanding boy, I know him so well, and after that he brings qualities that we didn’t have in the squad. He gives us a different option to play within the role in different spaces, and I’m really happy to have him.”
He added in a separate address: “I love Oleks, he has given us so much. He gives us a lot. He is a player with different qualities and an unbelievable courage to play football in any circumstance.”
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