Stay in town or restart your career?

Alexander Zinchenko is a footballer whose professional development in recent years can provoke only the most positive emotions. This blond boy went through an incredibly difficult stage in his career, at 18 years and 9 months he made his debut in the Ukraine national team, and then he showed the skeptics that his stay in the field of the ‘blue-yellows’ was not a whim no one, not an accident. Now Alexander Zinchenko is one of the leaders of the national team, and on whom, according to experts, the implementation of the game ideas, instilled by the coaching staff of Andriy Shevchenko, is largely based.

However, the current season is not yet as positive for Zinchenko as the last, when Alexander appeared in 19 English Premier League games in the ranks of Manchester City. Today, the 24-year-old Ukrainian does not even enter the game application, not to mention the appearance on the field.

Not surprisingly, against the background of such a situation, the press began to speak quite actively about the future of Zinchenko. Will he stay at City or will he choose another option to pursue a career? We will get the answer to these questions as early as January, when the transfer market in Europe opens, but for now we will try to solve the probable (and sometimes imaginary-desirable) options in Alexander’s career …

Option number 1 (ambitious) – Manchester City

Alexander Zinchenko managed to become what we know him now only thanks to a strong faith in his own strength and the desire to move towards a dream. Let’s remember how many laughed at Manchester City when the great Briton bought the little-known Russian Ufa in England a young Ukrainian, who had some games for his team. At that time Zinchenko did not seem like a “citizen” level player, but after having gone through a loan at PSV, and also having managed to prove his worth in training, he had a chance from Pep Guardiola.

Yes, the Manchester City manager unfortunately does not see in Zinchenko a player in the midfield, where the team is just a space competition, but much more often he places him on the problematic left flank of the defense, but this it doesn’t diminish Alexander’s merits in the least. In the last Premier League draw on Zinchenko’s account, on average, the statistics recorded 99 technical and tactical actions per game, an incredible figure that speaks of the extraordinary performance of the Ukrainian legionnaire. But Zinchenko was trusted by Guardiola not only for his “work days” on the pitch, but also for his understanding of football. Alexander managed to absorb the coach’s ideas almost perfectly, and that is why the City philosophy is something that is given not from under the stick, but with gusto.

Of course, the ideal option for Zinchenko at Manchester City would be the opportunity to play as an offensive midfielder, but there are no objective prerequisites for that so far. In addition, in the current season, Guardiola, it seems, already sees more worthy candidates on the left flank of the defense than Zinchenko, but will this be a reason for the Ukrainian to surrender, or will it be another challenge that he would prefer to face and improve even further. plus? We will see, but in any case, the ambitious character of Zinchenko allows us to assume that he will not escape from problems, and therefore it is likely that he will decide to remain at Manchester City.

Option number 2 (real) – “Wolverhampton”

If Zinchenko still decides to leave, then the chance to try his luck at Wolverhampton would be almost the best for our compatriot. The football that the “wolves” demonstrate, in addition to their frank sympathy, is also very modern, and this is what will definitely allow Zinchenko not to stagnate in development and continue his personal progress.

Furthermore, as British journalists claim, Wolverhampton’s mentor Nuno Espirito Santo really wants to see Zinchenko among his positions. The Portuguese reportedly admires Alexander’s technical skills and truly understands how and where he can help his team achieve even better results.

Of course, with Wolverhampton you cannot count on a Premier League gold or a Champions League victory, but this is a very ambitious team that clashes with dignity with the greats of English football. For example, last season, the “wolves” almost to the end took over the Champions League area, but in the end they finished seventh (over Arsenal, by the way!). If Zinchenko can practice regularly in Wolverhampton, then this option is definitely worth considering, especially since from a financial point of view, the “wolves” are unlikely to offend a Ukrainian, for whom they are willing to pay a considerable amount, in the current crisis, 19 million pounds. …

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Option number 3 (optimal) – “Napoli”

England is England, but it’s not worth obsessing over. Zinchenko also has a number of interesting options on the mainland, notably Napoli. Neapolitans, as Alan Prudnikov, an agent for the Ukrainian legionnaire “Manchester City” recently said, have been actively following Zinchenko’s career for several years, and they wouldn’t mind seeing him at their club.

Yes, the current Napoli are not as stable as before, but this season, under the leadership of Gennaro Gattuso, it seems that this team is doing much better than in the previous Serie A. All this can have a positive effect on Zinchenko, who it will not. under such colossal pressure of responsibility, as it is now at City, where each player is exclusively required to have a result. In Napoli, Alexander may have the right to make a mistake, which will psychologically force our compatriot to look a little differently at football and his chances in it.

Interestingly, according to the same agent Prudnikov, Zinchenko is not at all opposed to speaking with Napoli’s management about possible cooperation if City bosses give the go-ahead to such communication. In addition, Oleksandr has an example from Ruslan Malinovsky, who shows himself very well in Italy, and therefore moving to Serie A could also finally help the Italian specialists to make sure of the good quality of the Ukrainian midfielders, which in the Future would probably contribute to pass to Apennines and our others – for example, Tsygankov himself, whose interest was attributed to Fiorentina or Zubkov, who some time ago was on the “radar” of “Sampdoria”.

Option n. 4 (nostalgic) – Shakhtar

Despite the fact that the story of Zinchenko’s departure from Shakhtar turned out to be, to put it mildly, not the most beautiful, now everything seems such that the parties have not “burned bridges” forever and it is possible that one day they will return to negotiations. cooperation. At least, when a year ago Zinchenko flew to Ukraine from Manchester City to play Shakhtar, he openly said that he loved this team and was not ruling out his return to Pitmen.

Zinchenko’s arrival at Shakhtar at this time would be an ideal opportunity both for the club itself and for a footballer in need of playing time. Alexander, 24, unlike many of his compatriots of the same age, is already a mature high-level player and is ready to take responsibility for the result at the moment, which he regularly shows with his performances in the Ukrainian national team. . Shakhtar, on the other hand, is very close to a cardinal change of team leaders and thus new heroes would be very useful to the Pitmen, especially since Zinchenko is a graduate of the Donetsk club academy and will not need time to adjust.

Of course, returning to Ukraine and playing in the Premier League after the Premier League is by no means the ultimate dream, and Zinchenko understands that. But on the other hand, Shakhtar have shown that they are an excellent springboard towards the best clubs in Europe, and not just for Brazilians. An example of Chygrynskiy, who shone in the Pitmen field, and this caught the attention of Barcelona: this is the path that Zinchenko could have followed in time if he returned to Shakhtar. In the end, there is probably no better time for the renewal of relations with the Pitmen than now, and in all respects: this is the restructuring in Kashtru’s team, and the crisis in playing time received from Zinchenko himself, and the philosophy of the Donetsk club. older footballers. An exception was recently made for Linnet, and it once again confirmed the accuracy of the existing vector.

Option number 5 (mythical) – Real Madrid

We must say right away that this option should not be taken seriously. That’s why we called it mythical, because now deserving a transfer to Real by Zinchenko is unimaginable. And not because Alexander does not reach the level, but because it is difficult to believe that the whites fight for the Manchester City reservist and take him with their sights set on the first team.

However, Zinchenko’s wife recently said that she would very much like to see her husband at Real Madrid, of whom she has been a longtime fan. Which is true, she immediately emphasized that “she would be happy to be transferred to a club where Sasha would fit in in terms of her playing style, and a club that would need Zinchenko’s help.” Is the current Real Madrid like that? Of course, you could ask Lunin, but Zinchenko has his own path and his own goals in his career.