WHEN
It could be argued that he's doing a similar thing this year at Arsenal, where his quality on the ball and tactical intelligence have played a key role in turning
On Friday night, for the first time since his summer transfer, Zinchenko could face City when his old side host his new one in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
If his influential performances in Arsenal's last two league wins against
"I think he has proven time and again at City that he can step up in big moments," says
"Now it seems he is Arteta's man at left-back and he is settled into that. This is the first time in his career that he's been an integral part of a team. And I think he's become one of the most influential figures in the Arsenal dressing room."
When Zinchenko left his native
PROFOUND EFFECT Guardiola's former No2 Arteta has been quick to establish Zinchenko as a first choice in the back four with instructions to drift into midfield, help Arsenal to win back and retain possession and act as an additional playmaker.
The result has been helping the Gunners exert greater dominance over opponents when he plays, with last week against United a case in point.
And as much as his technical qualities have improved his new team, so has his character.
"His celebrations [after
"He has improved the mentality of the team, more so than
"He is a ship-steadier, like how
As perhaps his country's biggest current sporting export, Zinchenko, now 26, is used to shouldering the hopes of millions in his homeland. And events of the last 12 months have only given his status even greater significance.
"He's the star of the country. Maybe [
"Obviously this year has had a profound effect on how he perceives himself and he has had a marked transformation in terms of speaking out about the war. It shows that he has taken a lot of that on board.
"It's not a burden but he carries a lot of people's hopes back home."
Zinchenko has also been spurred on to succeed at Arsenal by the heartache of losing the
"I think that was his first big loss in football," says Todos.
"It hit him really hard mentally and took him a while to get out of that rut. Now he's not looking back but trying to build that new history with Arsenal and
He has become one of the most influential figures at Arsenal. He has improved the mentality of the team, more so than
(c) 2023 City A.M., source