25-year-old Oleksandr Zinchenko has been on the verge of joining Arsenal from Manchester City, and now Pep Guardiola has confirmed his departure after relaying his gratitude in an interview.
The Ukraine international has been on the brink of joining Arsenal after the Premier League champions agreed to a deal worth £30m (as per the Mirror) to bring the versatile player to the Emirates.
Zinchenko struggled to secure a starting role in Guardiola’s squad ahead of City’s number one left-back Joao Cancelo, making just 15 Premier League appearances last season.
Guardiola expresses his gratitude for the 25-year-old during an interview.
? “It was nice yesterday with Alex [Zinchenko] because we could say goodbye properly.”
Pep Guardiola pays tribute to Oleksandr Zinchenko after he agreed a move to Arsenal pic.twitter.com/PSpasVsOhX
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 20, 2022
The City boss said: “I’ll say on behalf of the club our gratitude on and off the pitch. It was nice yesterday with Oleks because we could say bye properly. Unfortunately, Gabi [Gabriel Jesus] and Raheem [Sterling] could not do it but with him we could and he moves on to Arsenal.”
Zinchenko will be a welcomed addition to the Gunners squad as the versatile player will be able to create backup and competition for the current injury-prone left-back, Kieran Tierney.