Zinchenko names unlikely Arsenal player who ‘surprised’ him after showing ‘amazing potential’
Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko was “surprised” by Eddie Nketiah’s “ability and quality” after joining the Gunners in the summer.
The Ukraine international swapped defending champions Manchester City for Mikel Arteta’s side in a £32m summer deal.
And so far it has paid off with Zinchenko more of regular for Arsenal than he was at City, while Arteta’s Premier League leaders are currently five points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s outfit.
Nketiah has not had a Premier League start yet this season – but an injury to Gabriel Jesus at the World Cup means he is likely to be put straight into the Gunners’ starting XI when they return on Boxing Day.
And Zinchenko thinks Nketiah will do a great job after revealing he’s the Arsenal player who has “suprised” him the most since he joined in the summer.
“Since I came here, [Nketiah] has been amazing,” Zinchenko told Sky Sports. “Honestly, even watching him last season, I was surprised a lot because the ability and quality he has is incredible.
“He has an amazing potential and future for sure. The way he works so hard, I have no doubts about him.
“For sure, he’s going to help the team as much as he can and he understands the pressure now a little bit. He should realise how important he will be for the rest of the season.”
Arsenal have won 12 of their first 14 matches in the Premier League this season with the Gunners looking to win the title for the first time since 2004.
Zinchenko added: “We don’t look that far. We need to be focused on every single game and go step by step.
“For sure, the way the fans are supporting us, it’s incredible and they deserve the best. But I tell you, there are only two things we need to do: hard work and belief.
“On top of it, there’s consistency. There is no limit to improvement, there’s a lot of space in every single detail. Every point is so important. I know it from the past.
“When I was at City, we were dropping a lot of really important points against teams where we were stronger [than them] because anything can happen in football. If we have chances to score, we need to score all of them.
“The most important thing is that everyone is humble and professional. Like you see now, we only have one striker – but we can play with no striker – and everyone needs to play his role. Now is the most important of the season and we need to fight for something big.”
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Curated from: https://www.football365.com/news/zinchenko-names-unlikely-arsenal-nketiah-surprised-amazing-potential
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