The agent of Manchester City midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko has said that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger tried to sign the player as a 17-year-old well before he moved to the Etihad stadium in July.
At the time, Zinchenko was still at Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, and his agent Sandor Varga told Russian news website Championat that despite Wenger’s efforts, a move never materialised, and he eventually transferred to Russian Premier League side FC Ufa instead:
‘Wenger called and said: ‘I have need for that player. ‘He’s going to play in the first team. I know he is only seventeen, but I’m going to write a letter to his family that I will take care of him when he is with us and he’ll play in the first team.”
‘Arsene had seen a youth game of Shakhtar and took 20 minutes to assess the potential of Oleksandr. Wenger asked me ten times about Zinchenko and I later informed him and felt even a bit sad because I couldn’t help him.’
Zinchenko joined Manchester City last summer for an undisclosed fee but was almost immediately sent out on loan to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven. City were hoping that the 19 year old would be given some match time in the Eredivisie but manager Phillip Cocu has only started him in two matches so far.
In total, the attacking midfielder has managed to play in six league matches but has yet to score or provide an assist for a team mate.
