Oleksandr Zinchenko has described Kieran Tierney as an "amazing player" and believes the two can push each other for a place in the Arsenal starting XI.
Zinchenko, 25, completed a £32million transfer from Manchester City to the Gunners earlier this summer and will provide competition for places. Tierney, also 25, was Arsenal's primary left-back last season but has been restricted to two substitute outings this term.
Tierney is still recovering from a long-term knee injury and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will have a selection dilemma when the Scotland international and Zinchenko are fully fit. The latter can be deployed in midfield, which would allow Arteta to field both players in the starting line-up.
"He is an amazing player," Zinchenko told the Evening Standard of Tierney. "Even when I was at City, I was watching his games. I think it is good competition for each of us. We are going to push each other and I think that’s the key. That’s how we need to move on. The most important thing is both of us want to try and help the team as much as we can."
Arsenal needed to bring in suitable cover for Tierney due to the left-back's recurring injury problems. He's made just 66 Premier League appearances for the Gunners since joining the club from Celtic for £25m in July 2019, going on to win the FA Cup and Community Shield.
When fit, Tierney has shown himself to be one of the best left-backs in the Premier League. Yet his injury record meant Arsenal were forced to dip into the market. His previous understudy, Nuno Tavares, was recently sent out on loan to Marseille for the season.
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Zinchenko may not mind if Tierney regains his place in Arsenal's starting XI. That could see him move into central or attacking midfield, taking the place of either Granit Xhaka or Gabriel Martinelli. The Ukrainian spoke very highly of the latter, referring to him as a "real diamond".
Martinelli, 21, and Gabriel Jesus, 25, have both enjoyed excellent starts to the season - scoring four Premier League goals between them in the wins against Crystal Palace and Leicester. Arsenal's next game is against Bournemouth at Dean Court on Saturday.
Zinchenko is looking to make a big impression at Arsenal after finding opportunities limited at the Etihad. Although he won four Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola, he never played more than 20 league games in a season.
Ben Foster is surprised City agreed to sell Zinchenko to Arsenal. "I cannot believe they’ve got rid of them," he told his YouTube channel. "But I saw a quote from Pep about Zinchenko and he’s saying, 'he’s the first guy in the gym in the morning. Once we’ve done gym, he’ll then go and do more gym. He’s the first one on the training pitch'.
"And I'm thinking you’ve let this guy go that does all these things, everybody sees this and thinks, 'wow that is incredible'. And he’s gone into Arsenal and everybody else will be watching going: 'I need to up my game then'. This is a guy who’s been at Man City, won everything, come here and he’s still doing that kind of thing. It's incredible."
