Nottingham Forest Complete Unexpected Move For Arsenal Defender

Oleksandr Zinchenko joins Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is bidding farewell to Arsenal. | @NFFC

Nottingham Forest came out of nowhere in the late hours of transfer deadline day to complete a move for Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Well past the 7 p.m. deadline, Forest reached an agreement with Arsenal to acquire Zinchenko on a straight-loan transfer, per The Athletic. The Ukraine international is entering the final year of his contract with the Gunners and was no longer part of Mikel Arteta’s plans.

Forest were linked with a possible deadline day move for Atlético Madrid’s Javi Galan. However, the transfer collapsed in the final stages and Forest quickly pivoted to find an alternative. Zinchenko, who’s fallen out of grace with Arteta, was the answer to Forest’s need for a new left back.

The only way Forest were able to pull of Zinchenko’s transfer past the deadline is because they submitted a deal sheet that gave them an extension in order to finalise the move.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (right) overtook Oleksandr Zinchenko on Arsenal’s left back depth chart. | Geert van Erven/Soccrates/Getty Images

Zinchenko was a regular for Arsenal in his first two seasons at the club since joining in the summer of 2022. However, injuries began affecting his career at the Emirates. Then, thanks to Myles Lewis-Skelly’s breakout, plus the addition of Ricardo Calafiori a season ago and Jurrien Timber’s versatility, Zinchenko struggled to get minutes for Arsenal.

Earlier in the summer, Zinchenko admitted that 2024–25 was the worst season he had experienced as a professional, managing just 23 appearances and less than 1,000 minutes across all competitions for Arsenal.

Through three games this season, Zinchenko has been left out of Arteta’s squad. It was clear his time at Arsenal had come to an end, the club just hadn’t found him a suitor. Finally, it was Nottingham Forest and former Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar who pulled the trigger to sign the wantaway left back.

As fate would have it, Zinchenko could make his debut for Forest when they take on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on the other side of the international break.

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