Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko is one of the most wanted players in the English Premier League. The defending champions are looking to offload the player, and Zinchenko is also looking for a move away from the club after struggling for regular game-time. He is a versatile player who can play as a left-back and as a central midfielder. Arsenal are one of the clubs interested in buying the player. Zinchenko has previously played under Mikel Arteta during the Spaniard’s Manchester City days. The Gunners are offering Zinchenko his favoured midfield position, and the Ukrainian international could be lured by this offer.
The 25-year-old made 15 league appearances for Manchester City. He made ten starts and came on as a substitute in the other five matches. He played as a left-back in all the matches and provided four assists.
When looking at the above chart, the general rule is that the longer the bar, the better the performance — you can see the league average in the middle, and the % is the percentile rank the player is in. The above viz shows Zinchenko’s stats in comparison to the other defenders in the league. When we look at the passes per 90, assists per 90, and some of the other stats mentioned above, the full-back has a high percentile rank. Manchester City like to keep possession of the ball and are a very attacking side. This is one of the primary reasons why Zinchenko has a high percentile rank. Arteta will be looking at the type of passes he has delivered with a high accuracy rate. This shows that Zinchenko can easily fit into the midfield and could also offer width by going wide. He also plays in the midfield for his national team.
The above viz shows the past starting location of the full-back this season. We can observe that Zinchenko likes to come to the centre and doesn’t like to stay wide all the time. The greatest threat is created by the passes attempted from the edge of the middle third. Zinchenko also penetrated the opposition’s penalty box as he took 21 touches inside it.
Zinchenko contested 5.11 defensive duels, 2.87 aerial duels and 1.68 loose ball duels per 90 minutes. He had a success rate of 28.13%, 55.56%, and 38.1%, respectively. Most of the duels were contested in the middle third. His other defensive contributions included 54 interceptions and 130 recoveries. Of these 130 recoveries, 54 were made inside the opposition’s half.
The Ukrainian is on the wishlist of Arteta as he could add more spark to Arsenal’s midfield with his passing of the ball. Oleksandr Zinchenko struggled for game-time at City and was considering a move away. He is being offered his favoured position by Arteta, and this could be one of the reasons he could go to the North London club.
