Oleksandr Zinchenko says some of his Arsenal team-mates laughed at him when he said in the summer that they could challenge for the Premier League title.
Zinchenko joined the Gunners in a £32million transfer from Manchester City in July. The Ukraine international won four Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola and was eager to bring that winning mentality to his new club.
Fast-forward to the present day and he has just played a pivotal role in Arsenal ’s 3-2 win over Manchester United which put the Gunners five points clear of his old club, with a game in hand. Arsenal have taken 50 points from 19 games – the club’s best ever points total at this stage – and are now the bookies’ favourites for the title.
Zinchenko says he knew straight away after joining the club what they were capable of, even if his new team-mates took some convincing. Speaking to Premier League Productions after the win over United, the left-back explained his thoughts.
He said: “To be honest when I just arrived, the quality I saw – obviously I knew the Arsenal team, I knew all of them before – but still, I realised on the pitch that we have everything to achieve the big things. And I started to speak in the dressing room like, ‘guys, forget top three or whatever it is, we need to think about the title’.
“Some of them were laughing, but no one is laughing now. All of us are dreaming, but like I said, there are a lot of games and United are back, City are always there obviously. Let’s see what’s going to happen, we need to move step by step.”
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Mikel Arteta has frequently brushed off questions about Arsenal winning the title, insisting they only look at the next game. And after talking openly about their lofty goals, Zinchenko repeated the team mantra.
“Everyone is dreaming about this,” he said when asked about the possibility of lifting the trophy. “But honestly we don’t look far. We don’t look to other teams as well. We need to be focused on our game.
“There are plenty of things to improve, but we are on the right way, I think. And the atmosphere in the dressing room, around the team, at the training ground, everyone is working so hard. Not just the players – the staff too.
“You can arrive at the training ground and come back at 5pm and half of the staff will still be there working hard. That’s the way, it’s unbelievable, perfect – and that’s the key.”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright was certainly taken in by Zinchenko’s words, interrupting the interview to say, “I’m so glad you’re at our club.” The feeling is mutual, with Zinchenko’s wife, Vlada Sedan, writing “I’m in love with this team” on Instagram after the United win.
The Gunners will now turn their attention to the FA Cup, with a fourth-round tie against Zinchenko’s former club Manchester City on Friday. They then start February by facing Everton, Brentford and City in the following three league games.
