Arsenal have been brilliant at helping their new signings improve in recent years.
The likes of Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jakub Kiwior have all hit new levels after signing for Arsenal, but not every player who’s joined the Gunners has undergone that same type of transformation.
Indeed, speaking to Off The Ball, Keith Treacy has claimed that one Arsenal signing has actually gone backwards since arriving at the Emirates 18 months ago.
The Arsenal signing who has gone backwards
Speaking on Off The Ball, Treacy stated that Oleksandr Zinchenko doesn’t look the player he was at Manchester City.
“Aston Villa try to do that front-foot press, and you can play around it, but Zinchenko, I like Zinchenko, when we got him from Man City I thought ‘lovely’. He’s not a great defender but a good footballer popping into midfield doing things, but he doesn’t look the player he was at Man City,” Treacy said.
Oleksandr Zinchenko hasn’t been great
Treacy has a point here.
Oleksandr Zinchenko really hasn’t been great for Arsenal this season.
Last term, he was absolutely brilliant, he was that extra mad in the midfield and he allowed the Gunners to overload the central areas and dominate almost every game.
However, at some point, that inverted full-back role was figured out by the opposition teams, and now, Zinchenko looks like more of a liability than he does an asset for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Zinchenko may either need a position change or to just find a new club as he’s become more and more of a problem player for the north London club as this season has gone on.
As Treacy says, Zinchenko’s bright start at Arsenal has entirely faded, and he barely even looks as good as he did at Manchester City now.
This hasn’t been a bad signing, but the £35m man’s stock has certainly fallen this season.
The post ‘He doesn’t look the player he was’: Pundit says 27-year-old Arsenal player has got a lot worse appeared first on TBR Football.