Arsenal man calls 24/25 ‘easily’ his ‘worst season’ | OneFootball

Oleksandr Zinchenko has admitted that the 2024/25 campaign was “easily the worst season I ever experienced as a professional”, laying bare the personal and emotional toll of being left on the fringes of Mikel Arteta’s squad.

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In his newly updated autobiography Believe, released this week, the Ukrainian defender reflects on starting only five league matches across the season and what he describes as “professional rejection”.

“A small problem with my calf kept me out of action in the month of September. A knock here and there. But I was otherwise fit for most of the campaign,” he writes about the injury that sidelined him until mid-October, missing eight games.

“I was basically out of the starting XI altogether, bar a few isolated matches. In pure personal terms, it was easily the worst season I ever experienced as a professional.

“A player who doesn’t play is nothing. It’s one thing when your body lets you down. That can happen. But going from one of the established players of the side to unused sub is much harder to deal with.”

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But he isn’t blaming anyone for his lack of minutes. “I can only blame myself. If I don’t play, it means that I didn’t work hard enough, didn’t do enough, didn’t play well enough,” he writes. Even in training, when asked to mimic opponents for tactical drills, Zinchenko said: “I did everything asked of me and was happy to play in any position for the subs’ XI… I see it as an opportunity to learn and to show that I will do whatever is necessary to play my part.”

The most striking passage of Zinchenko’s account concerns the impact on his young family. He recalls a moment at the Emirates when his three-year-old daughter pointed him out to her sister: “‘Look, that’s Daddy!’ Leia searched the pitch but couldn’t spot me. Then Eva pointed out ‘No, he’s not playing. He’s on the bench.’ Hearing that deeply hurt me. It made me feel embarrassed.”

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With one year left on his contract and interest from Porto, Fenerbahce and Real Betis, his future is the definition of uncertain.

Arsenal have already rebuffed one Porto bid this summer, though not for Zinchenko, and the full-back appears open to a move. “Let’s see what time will bring. Because I still want to play football. I want to enjoy the game and come back with a smile on my face in the evening.”