It was my worst season. Arteta no longer believed in me: Oleksandr Zinchenko

New Delhi, Aug 13 Arsenal wingback Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed he felt a lack of belief from head coach Mikel Arteta during the course of last season. The 28-year-old may be on his way out of North London after a lack of playing time.

Zinchenko started only five games across the 2024/25 season and fell out of the mix in the Gunners' playing XI, with Ricciardo Calafiori and Miles Lewis Skelly enjoying their breakout seasons.

The Athletic posted excerpts of Zinchenko’s upcoming new autobiography ‘Believe’, in which the left-back spoke on his ‘worst professional season’ and claimed he felt that Arteta ‘longer believes in him.’

“I was basically out of the starting XI altogether, bar a few isolated matches. In pure personal terms, it was easily the worst season I ever experienced as a professional.

"A player who doesn’t play is nothing. It’s one thing when your body lets you down. That can happen.

“But going from one of the established players of the side to an unused sub is much harder to deal with. The sense of rejection you feel if your manager no longer believes in you can take the stuffing out of you, even if you’re the most resilient guy on the planet.

“Sitting on the bench in the Premier League for a very generous wage packet is obviously still a privilege, the kind of problem that billions of people on this planet would swap their much tougher lives for in a heartbeat. Trust me, as a Ukrainian, I’m aware of that. Every single minute.

Zinchenko joined Arsenal from Manchester City in 2022 and was a part of the leadership group at the club before injuries limited his playing time, which led to the Gunners signing Calafiori. The Ukrainian is linked with moves to AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, and a move may be on the cards after these recent comments.

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