Former Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has suffered what appears to be a season-ending knee injury on his Ajax debut.
The Ukrainian left the Gunners earlier this month after Arsenal announced that he had left the Emirates Stadium club to join Ajax in a permanent deal.
Zinchenko made 23 appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side last season, moving to Nottingham Forest last summer on a season-long loan.
However, the deal was ended by mutual consent, and the defender joined the Eredivisie club.
It is unknown whether Arsenal terminated his deal to allow him join Ajax or whether he was sold to them as no details regarding a transfer fee was disclosed.
Zinchenko took a huge pay-cut to join the Dutch club to boost his chances of going to the World Cup with Ukraine.
The former Gunners star is in a race to be fit for the summer tournament after the injury blow from last night.
'Ik maak me zeker zorgen over hem' 🤕 Het basisdebuut van Oleksandr Zinchenko bij Ajax is al snel uitgelopen op een drama. 😢 De linksback viel tijdens het Eredivisie-duel met Fortuna Sittard binnen vijf minuten uit met een blessure. 😪 Wie moet de positie van Zinchenko invullen… pic.twitter.com/4UFv3smxMv
— VoetbalPrimeur (@VoetbalPrimeur) February 14, 2026
Dreadful luck for Oleksandr #Zinchenko. Went down awkwardly in a challenge just 2'30" into his full Ajax debut. Clutched his shin, but his knee seemed to twist. Hobbled off. Oddly, #Ajax then scored almost immediately, lead Fortuna Sittard 3-1 half-time. #ajafor
— Richard Connelly 🇺🇦 (@RichConnelly) February 14, 2026
The former Manchester City star joined Arsenal in July 2022, making 91 appearances in all competitions during his three seasons with them and weighing in with three goals and five assists.
He was due to be out of contract at the end of this season before completing a move to Ajax.
Zinchenko’s departure to Forest slightly surprised some people at Arsenal as it was widely believed he would remain at the North London club until the campaign ended.
He admitted last year that Arteta no longer believed in him following the emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly, and an exit made sense for both parties.
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