Zinchenko feels ‘rejected’ by Arteta

Oleksandr Zinchenko spent half of his career in Manchester City where he came across Mikel Arteta, who was Pep Guardiola’s assistant. After taking over Arsenal, the Spaniard needed quality player to patrol the left side of the field and the Ukrainian international became a Gunner. From 33 games in which he appeared for Arsenal (in all competition) in season 2022/23, and 35 the following year, the last one was his worst at the Emirates – only 23 appearances. And the player is very much annoyed about it. So much, that he had to put it in his autobiography.

Even thou many footballers are facing the same problem, as the team can have only 11 men on the field, Zinchenko is specially sensitive for being left on the bench. Maybe it’s because he was always the starter, up until last season.

"Unlike the previous year, injuries were not a factor. A slight calf problem kept me off the field in September. A knock here and there. But I was otherwise fit for most of the season. On a personal level, it was hands down the worst season I’ve ever had as a professional. A player not playing is nothing. It’s just your body giving out on you. It can happen. But going from a proven player to an unused substitute is much harder to deal with. The feeling of rejection you get when your manager no longer believes in you can wear you down, even if you’re the most resilient player on the planet” he wrote in his upcoming autobiography ‘Believe’ which will hit the stores on Thursday.

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In fact, being left on the bench was so hard for Zinchenko, that he continued to talk about it in his book, but this time adding some melodrama elements.

“Being on the bench in the Premier League for a very generous salary is obviously a privilege, but imagine this little boy who has devoted his entire existence to becoming good at a specific area and who discovers at 28 that he is no longer really necessary, that others can replace him" he wrote.

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We can already imagine some former Arsenal player like Tony Adams, or Martin Keown or Patrick Vieira who are reading this and going ‘Come on man, don’t moan, just deal with it!”, but Zinchenko is not stopping.

"One day, my wife took my two daughters to the Emirates Stadium for a match. Eva, the eldest by three and a half years, said to Leia: 'Look, there's Dad!'. Leia looked all over the field, but couldn't find me. Then Eva pointed at me and said: 'No, he's not playing. He's on the bench.' Hearing that hurt me a lot. I felt ashamed" he wrote. We can hardly wait for Mikel Arteta to read ‘Believe’...