Arteta hints at new role for 28yo Arsenal man | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has suggested that Oleksandr Zinchenko will primarily be used for Arsenal in midfield in the coming games, despite never having started a game in the position for the Gunners.

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When Arsenal signed Oleksandr Zinchenko in 2022, there was a lot of talk about where Mikel Arteta planned to use him. With the Gunners already having Kieran Tierney on the books, some suggested the Ukraine international might play in midfield, as he often does for his country.

Until this season, that didn’t happen. Zinchenko exclusively started games at left-back, even if his inverted role meant he did spent a lot of time in the middle of the pitch.

Yet things have changed recently, with Zinchenko regularly coming off the bench as a midfielder in the last few weeks. He still hasn’t started in the position, but that could change on Wednesday night against PSV Eindhoven.

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“He’s very good (in midfield), and with the options that we have, we believe that it’s a position that he can help in and that suits him,” Arteta said on Tuesday.

“He’s played there before, I’ve known him for many years and he can really fit in that position, and he’s adapted really well in training. He had a few opportunities in the last few games as well to show that. So, I’m happy that he’s doing well there.”

The suggestion that Arteta is using training to help Zinchenko adapt to a midfield role implies that’s the plan for him going forward. And it makes sense, with Arsenal having so many left-backs on the books.

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Zinchenko may be on the way out with Tierney this summer, but for now both players are still available to Arteta, as well as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori. Jakub Kiwior is capable of filling in at left-back in emergencies as well.