Arsenal legend ‘worried’ over key Arteta man being tipped for surprise summer sale

Arsenal legend Ian Wright admits that he is growing “worried” over the form of Oleksandr Zinchenko after the left-back’s nervy cameo performance in the Champions League last-16 triumph against Porto.

Zinchenko was one of Arsenal’s better performers in his debut season at the club as the Gunners pushed Manchester City all the way in the Premier League title race.

However, the current campaign has been a different story as the 27-year-old has really struggled for consistency, with a niggling calf injury keeping him sidelined for a large portion of January and February.

Poland international Jakub Kiwior has deputised in Zinchenko’s place on the left side of Mikel Arteta’s defence and  started his seventh game in succession on Tuesday night as the north London faced Porto at home trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Portugal.

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After winger Leandro Trossard had levelled the tie, Zinchenko, who has been tipped to leave the club this summer, came on as a substitute for Kiwior with 15 minutes remaining of extra-time and the Ukraine international never looked comfortable, giving away possession and drawing audible groans from the home crowd.

However, an inspired David Raya went on to deny Wendell and Galeno from 12 yards in a penalty shootout to book the Gunners a place in the quarter-finals of European football’s premier knockout competition for the first time since 2010.

Arsenal will discover their opponents for the last eight in Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw, where they could meet Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid.

Zinchenko concerns for Wright

But discussing Zinchenko’s shaky display, Wright told the Wrighty’s House podcast: “Do you know what’s happened, I think, with Zinchenko? Because he’s now kind of eased out of the picture at the moment with what we’re doing.

“The times he has played… and the reason why the crowd are a bit impatient with what we want from him… because we want him to come on, we want him to keep the ball and progress it and not give it away.

“There was a couple of times, and I don’t know if it’s rust or if it’s because he hasn’t played, I don’t know if it’s because he’s come on in the game and the game is quite hectic for him, but he gave the ball away a few times… and it’s f***ing scary now.

“I’m feeling it, I think the fans might be feeling it as well because one of the telltale signs with a player when they’re feeling a little bit frustrated is the groans instantly.

“It’s not like, ‘OK, let him warm up into it’. As soon as he gave the first one away they were like, ‘Oh!’, because there is so much on the line.

“He’s got to come on and he’s got to be that one that keeps it f***ing composed for us and keeps the ball – even if you have to do that silly thing that I hate seeing players pass it to each other – bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

“But I’m worried about that.”

Despite his worries about Zinchenko, Wright likes what he sees from his old club in terms of going further in the competition.

He added: “I’m happy that we won this game because for this team, for this squad, what they’re trying to do and achieve, getting these firsts, the first time in 14 years we’ve got to the quarter-finals, it’s another thing that they have achieved.

“They’ve gone to another level of something, so mentally, they are getting stronger… and playing in games like that, we’ve learned so much.

“We’ve learned so much from a game like that.”

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