Arsenal forgotten man Oleksandr Zinchenko fighting for his future as he prepares to step out of the shadows

Cast your mind back to the opening day of the season and try to remember who started at left-back for Arsenal ?

It was not, as one might think, Jurrien Timber or Riccardo Calafiori, but instead Oleksandr Zinchenko .

Since then, though, the Ukrainian has played just 10 minutes of football, with a calf injury sustained in September keeping him out of action.

In the time since, Zinchenko has become the forgotten man of this Arsenal squad.

Both Calafiori and Timber have excelled at left-back and, as has been the case in the past with players under Mikel Arteta, it feels like this team is evolving beyond Zinchenko.

Aaron Ramsdale, Granit Xhaka, Kieran Tierney and, to an extent, even Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all suffered the same fate and it is hard to escape the feeling that Zinchenko is heading into a decisive stage of his Arsenal career.

The 27-year-old has less than two years to run on his contract and, if he does not agree fresh terms before the summer, then both he and Arsenal will have a decision to make.

It is perhaps a testament to how far Arsenal have come under Arteta that the prospect of Zinchenko leaving is considered a possibility.

He had a transformative impact on the squad when he joined from Manchester City in 2022, both on the pitch and off it.

Zinchenko brought the winning mentality Arsenal needed and the relentless work ethic that Arteta craves from his players.

On the pitch for Arsenal, Zinchenko revolutionised their build-up play, tucking in from left-back so they could overload opponents in midfield.

He was voted Arsenal’s Player of the Month in January and February of his first season and was a genuine contender for the overall award at the end of the campaign.

Now, though, it is hard to see how he gets into the side ahead of Calafiori and Timber, who appear able to blend Zinchenko’s ability on the ball with an increased physicality.

There is even further depth at left-back in the shape of Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu, not to mention teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The 17-year-old came through Arsenal’s academy as a midfielder, but now looks set to be moulded into a left-back after making his full debut there last month in the Carabao Cup.

But it would be unwise to write off Zinchenko, who is not the kind of character who will simply sulk at losing his place.

He is a fighter and, when he hopefully returns to fitness this month, the challenge will be clear to him.

Calafiori and Timber have brought a new level of competition at left-back that did not exist at Arsenal last season - and now Zinchenko must prove he is up to the task at hand.

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