Arsenal and Oleksandr Zinchenko are set to part ways with a touching transfer gesture revealed before he joins Dutch giants Ajax.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has said his goodbyes to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest teammates ahead of joining Ajax. The 29-year-old made a deadline day loan switch to Forest from the Gunners - but has also barely featured since the arrival of Sean Dyche.
Talk of Zinchenko's temporary deal being cut early had ramped up in the last few weeks with Ajax emerging as an option for the Ukraine international on another loan. However, a permanent deal is now being discussed between Arsenal and the Dutch giants for a small fee.
While an announcement of his next switch has been delayed because of this, the move is expected to go through before the winter window closes.
That has been further highlighted by a report from The Sun which states he had gone into both Arsenal and Forest dressing rooms to say his goodbyes.
The fixture list falling kindly allowed him to head into both this past weekend when Arsenal hosted Forest at the City Ground.
Having started just three games since late October, Dyche had revealed earlier this month he had a conversation with Zinchenko regarding his future.
He said: "We've spoken to the player, made him clear on his situation. He's aware of that, we'll see what happens.
"He's played a couple of games, but hasn't featured in others. He's been injured. That hasn't been helpful to him or to us. I've just been open with him, really. It's like I say, I'm open with all players.
"But I think when you've done as much as he has in the game, it's more of a conversation. Not demanding anything other than just telling him the truth, as I see it. And that's how much he can figure out, how much game-time he's going to get at this time."
He is set to join Ethan Nwaneri as an Arsenal star moving elsewhere during this trading period with the academy graduate signing for Marseille on loan.
Zinchenko made 10 appearances for Forest with his exit ahead of the 2025/26 sanctioned after losing his starting spot in the Arsenal team.
Arsenal have signed Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie since Zinchenko's arrival - with all three capable of playing at left-back. The emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly did also not help his minutes.
He had played 91 matches under Mikel Arteta prior to that following his £32million transfer from Manchester City, where he featured 128 times.
Football London
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