Rice and Saliba react to Oleksandr Zinchenko’s update amid Arsenal exit rumours
Declan Rice and William Saliba have reacted to a new update from teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko amid rumours that could depart Arsenal this summer.
Arsenal’s lack of silverware over the last few years has furthered their desire to be busy in this summer’s transfer window, and Zinchenko could be on his way out after a few mixed seasons in North London.
The 28-year-old joined the Gunners for £30million [The Athletic] from Man City in 2022, and he has often been used as a back-up in numerous positions while struggling to nail down a starting spot under Mikel Arteta.
He featured just 23 times in all competitions last term, and Football Insider revealed in May that Zinchenko is expected to leave Arsenal this summer amid interest from Borussia Dortmund.
Zinchenko is also a target for AC Milan, according to reports, and the Gunners have made a final decision to sell the Ukraine international before the new season, as recently revealed by Football Insider.
Zinchenko shares Arsenal pre-season update
He remains an Arsenal player for now, but Zinchenko has had the chance to impress potential suitors in recent days after Mikel Arteta’s side kicked off their pre-season tour with a 1-0 win over Milan on 23 July.
The 28-year-old started at left-back and came off at half-time in Singapore, and he took to Instagram in the aftermath of the game to share some pictures of him in action against players who he could soon call his new teammates.
Zinchenko’s message was liked by a number of his current teammates in Rice, Saliba, David Raya, Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard and Christian Norgaard, among others.
Zinchenko needs to leave Arsenal for his own career
Football Insider verdict
Zinchenko’s career path up to this point has not been a particularly conventional one, after he emerged as an attacking midfielder at City but soon moved to central midfield and now left-back with the Gunners.
Despite his struggles in recent times, his talent is obvious from his time at the Etihad Stadium and decent form in the early stages of his Arsenal career, but it certainly seems unlikely that he becomes first-choice under Arteta again after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s breakthrough into the senior side.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 91 | 3 | 5 |
The Ukrainian international needs to depart the North London outfit as soon as possible, because he is 28-years-old now and will want to play regularly ahead of next year’s World Cup.
As well as Dortmund and Milan, The Sun have claimed that Fulham and Ajax are also interested in his services, so it’s not like he is set to be short of suitors if he demands a move away.
Milan have recently signed Pervis Estupinan, so that switch looks unlikely now, but Dortmund would surely be ideal given their Champions League status, and because it would be much more likely that he plays further forward in midfield, which is where he has mostly shone in recent years and where he exclusively plays for Ukraine.