Home » Sky: Arsenal full-back emerges as possible Theo Hernandez replacement – the latest
Oleksandr Zinchenko of Arsenal

Sky: Arsenal full-back emerges as possible Theo Hernandez replacement – the latest

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

While there is a lot of attention on the possible sales that AC Milan will make, there is also work going on to try and bolster the squad too.

According to Sky, Tijjani Reijnders will soon be announced by Manchester City as a new signing, Mike Maignan wants to join Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have made an offer for Theo Hernandez, so three big names could leave.

However, Milan are also working on the incomings and the management considering Oleksandr Zinchenko as a possible reinforcement for the left side, in the event that Theo leaves.

Zinchenko on the Rossoneri’s radar

Zinchenko has now spent eight seasons in the Premier League, but he did not play as much in the one that has just ended. Under Mikel Arteta he played 23 games across the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup, scoring one goal and adding one assist.

Nevertheless, he spent five years at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and moved to the Gunners to play for Arteta. He has no doubt learned a lot tactically from the two Spanish coaches who have made him a versatile player too, capable of being used either on the left of the defence or in midfield.

As a reminder, Sportitalia reported yesterday that the Ukraine international had been offered to Milan through intermediaries, so it remains to be seen how/if the idea develops.

Tags AC Milan Oleksandr Zinchenko

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  1. Don’t go this way. Another deadwood from Premier League with huge salary (over 6-7mil EUR) with no guarantee of any quality.

    Just get some promising young, Italian fullback from Serie A and let Allegri build a team. That’s it.

    1. Can’t agree on Zinchenko – he’s class in my opinion, but the Firpo links that won’t go away are keeping me awake at night!

  2. Worse thab Theo in defending, and not even close in attack. He had one goal and one assist last year. Calabria had way better numbers than that and people were complaining. Big downgrade.

    1. That’s far too simplistic, they are completely different players.

      Zinchenko’s passing range for a defender is ridiculous. He also prefers to invert which means you need a CDM who’ll naturally rotate with him and protect Leao (assuming he’s staying). This would actually help to solve a big transitional problem we had last season.

      I would rather keep Theo and finally replace the Tonali role so he can play his natural game, but I dont see either of those things happening. IF Theo is leaving AND we somehow managed to get Zinchenko (we won’t), it’s not a like for like, it’s an entirely different way of defending and transitioning to attack.

      1. Yeah, I dunno. Theo was doing a lot of inverting a couple of seasons back under Pioli, and it wasn’t going that well. A left back should be a left back, not a midfielder.

      2. A bit simplistic, but certainly not wrong. I watch Arsenal; Zinny is equally as bad defensively as Theo and definitely worse going forward. I would be disappointed if Milan pursue this move.

    1. Before Cambias, I would bring De Cuyper, he is cheaper, less prone to injuries, but not worse. Juventus are asking for the same price we got for Reijnders for Cambias, should we pay that? Or Udogie, anyway. It’s just that they’re Italians and we pay them 50 million each, and we know they’re not worth that much.

  3. If this team had any foresight they would have kept Kerkez.

    Used him as the primary deputy for Theo. He left because of lack of minutes in the first team.

    This would have kept a great talent, would have let Theo rest (which is the biggest issue) and would have most likely ended up with either a big payday elsewhere and a transfer fee that would have allowed us to keep Tiji.

    This team has no foresight at all.

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