- Two combined to great effect last season
- Zinchenko full of praise for Saliba
Reveals Bournemouth goal floored him
WHAT HAPPENED? The Ukraine international, who had a stellar debut season at Arsenal, has paid tribute to his defensive counterpart Saliba, who himself had a solid first year playing under Mikel Arteta. Both played a big role in pushing Arsenal to unlikely title contenders.
WHAT THEY SAID: Asked for his thoughts on Saliba on theFIVE Youtube channel, Zinchenko said: "Rolls-Royce. So good, I love him so much. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know him before I came to Arsenal when I saw him from the training sessions, I said: ‘Who is this guy?’.
"Then, first game against Chelsea, pre-season, zero mistakes. This guy never makes mistakes. Then he scored the goal with the left foot against Bournemouth. I went to my knees because I said: 'This guy, he can do everything'."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The acquisition of Zinchenko from Manchester City last summer raised eyebrows, but it proved to be a shrewd piece of business. The left-back played in 27 of the Gunner's Premier League outings, grabbing a goal and two assists. Saliba played in the same amount of Premier League games, leading Arsenal to within five points of eventual winners City, boasting the joint-third best defence, too.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
WHAT NEXT FOR ZINCHENKO? It seems to be a race against time for him to be fully fit ahead of the beginning of the Premier League season as he looks to shake off a calf problem. The Gunners' campaign gets underway against Nottingham Forest on August 12.