In total, Zinchenko spent only one season in the Netherlands, and it is about him that we propose to recall today…
Visa problems and Guardiola’s solution At the beginning of July 2016, a transfer between the Russian “Ufa” and the English “Manchester City” took place, which was very unexpected for many football fans. Oleksandr Zinchenko, a linebacker of the national team of Ukraine, moved from the swamps to Tumanny Albion for a little more than 2 million euros. Before that, the football player played for a team from the capital of Bashkortostan for one and a half years, and ended up there after the scandalous departure from the Shakhtar academy, where serious hopes were placed on Zinchenko, which Alexander either could not, or did not want to live up to – here opinions can be decisive differs, depending on whose side (Donetsk club or football player) to take.
By the way, the dispute between Shakhtar and Zinchenko, in which the Miners even threatened to involve Manchester City, as a club willing to cooperate with a football player who was distinguished by scandalous behavior in relation to an employment contract with a former employer, is well known to Ukrainian fans, because We will not “chew” its details again.
Zinchenko personally wanted to see Josep Guardiola in Manchester City. The Spanish coach was impressed by the talent of the Ukrainian midfielder, in whom the specialist saw excellent qualities. However, from the very beginning, Guardiola realized that Zinchenko would have an extremely difficult time at Dumanny Albion. And how could it be otherwise when a football player moves from the swamp league to one of the strongest national championships in the world?
Throughout the summer of 2016, Zinchenko tried to get used to the new realities in Manchester City, which did not want to immediately part with the inexperienced Ukrainian, but… For some time, the parties still had to part ways. All because the Ukrainian could not get a work visa, without which official performances for Manchester City were impossible.
Literally at the end of the 2016 summer transfer window, Manchester City began searching for a club to which Zinchenko could be sent. Among such a large number of applicants was PSV, and the desire to send the Ukrainian to the Netherlands was expressed by none other than Guardiola himself.
“Why exactly PSV? First of all, this football is similar to Guardiola’s football, especially Pep with the head coach [нидерландцев] Phillip Koku is recognized by close friends, they played together. They are constantly in touch. Secondly, this is a very good European club. Another important factor is that the club is a member of the Champions League,” said Alan Prudnikov, representing Zinchenko’s interests, at the time.
What a great chance… Zinchenko himself generally accepted the news about his move to PSV positively. This transition turned out to be difficult, since at the time when all the details were drawn up, the midfielder (at that time Alexander was still considered a midfielder, and only over time – already in the Premier League – was requalified as a wing defender) received a call-up to the Ukrainian national team, and all the details of the transition were arranged literally “on knee”.
PSV officially reported Zinchenko’s transfer on August 26, 2016, and Aleksandr held his first training session with the new team, as well as a tour of the club’s base, only on September 7, after the national team returned from the camp. At the same time, at the beginning of the first autumn month of 2016, Zinchenko said that he considered this transition to be a great career opportunity.
“The transfer to PSV is a great chance for me. I am very glad to be here, in the club for which legendary football players played. I am looking forward to my debut for PSV,” Zinchenko said.
FC PSV. Alexander Zinchenko The officials of the Dutch club also expressed optimism regarding the transfer of the Ukrainian. In particular, the then coach of PSV Phillip Koku said the following: “Zinchenko is approaching PSV, but he needs time to get used to the team. He will have to work hard to win a place in the starting line-up. According to the new rules of the Champions League, more players can be on the bench, which is a plus for him. When you are constantly around your teammates, the adaptation process goes faster.”
The top officials of PSV were also positive about the Ukrainian – in particular, the then sports director of the club Marcel Brands and the general director of Eindhoven Toon Herbrands.
The first stated that “Zinchenko has adapted well” and is in excellent shape, emphasized his feeling that “Alexander was born not in Ukraine, but in the Netherlands”, and also informed the club’s fans that PSV was trying to buy Zinchenko at Ufa, but failed in negotiations.
As for Gerbrands, he was simply beside himself with joy, commenting on the completed transfer: “Zinchenko is an open player with a big future who knows exactly what he wants to achieve.”
At the same time, in the fall of 2016, PSV managers, who publicly compared the Ukrainian with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, emphasized that although Zinchenko’s lease from Manchester City was formally only for one season, the Dutch club had an agreement in words with the “citizens” that the Ukrainian will spend two years in the state of the team from Eindhoven, which will be useful for all parties of this transaction.
… to total disappointment However, Zinchenko spent only one season in PSV. He played only 17 official matches (682 minutes), in which he managed to distinguish himself with 4 assists. The Ukrainian played 12 matches in the Dutch Eredivisie (there he gave all 4 assists), 4 in the Champions League, and one more match in the Dutch Cup.
Moreover, in the second half of the 2016/17 season, Zinchenko even began to play quite regularly for the youth team of PSV (the Ukrainian has played 7 matches), where he ended up not at all because of an exile from Koku, but at his personal request, since he did not I saw prospects for getting more playing time in the first team, but I categorically did not want to sit on the bench without a chance to show myself on the field.
“Journalists wrote that I was allegedly transferred to the youth team in the second half of the season. It’s not like that, I went up and asked to go there myself. I didn’t play in the first team, and it was important for me to maintain at least some kind of game tone,” Zinchenko explained at the time.
FC PSV. Alexander Zinchenko spent one season in the Netherlands Two months before the expiration of the lease agreement, Zinchenko decided to go public with criticism of the management and the coach th headquarters of PSV, where he, according to his understanding of the situation at the time, was undeservedly deprived of attention and game practice in the first team.
“There are only two games left in the 2016/17 Netherlands Championship, and after that we will make a decision [о будущем]. I can say one thing – I was unhappy at PSV, since I have not been on the field for seven matches in a row. I still didn’t understand why there was a need to take a football player who you don’t use. However, I think about it, but then I still come to the conclusion that the coach’s decision should never be discussed. This is the mentor’s choice… I’m not going to grieve. In any case, for me this is a crazy experience that no money can buy. I am confident that this experience will be useful to me in the future,” said the Ukrainian football player.
Success after PSV and reasons for failure in the Netherlands In the summer of 2017, Zinchenko returned to Manchester City, where over time he became a rather important figure in the team of Giuseppe Guardiola, won four championship titles in the Premier League, and in the summer of 2022, for 35 million euros, he moved to Arsenal, where he plays and this day
However, why didn’t Alexander have a career in PSV? Of course, it is worth recalling the injury literally at the start of the 2016/17 season, due to which Zinchenko was forced to miss four weeks, but in general it seems that the Ukrainian simply had a problem with communication in the Netherlands. Zinchenko, who is quite sociable, never mastered the Dutch language, and in English, even if most of the players and coaches of PSV knew it, at least no one spoke at training.
“The main obstacle is language. However, every Dutchman understands English and can communicate. But when they speak in Dutch, you don’t understand anything. How is theory and training going? Also in Dutch. In general, I want to improve my English. If I switch to Dutch, there will be an imbalance,” Zinchenko admitted.
It is interesting that in September 2016, immediately after the transfer to PSV, Zinchenko did not attach such great importance to the language. Then, in a conversation with Sport.ua journalist Sergey Tsyboy, Alexander stated the following: “Football language is such that any football player will understand it in Chinese.”
As we can see, Zinchenko can not only cope with Chinese, but also with Dutch, and he succeeded…
Warm memories of PSV Many years have passed since then, and Zinchenko fondly remembers his time at PSV, which he even called his second home in February 2018.
“From time to time I come to Eindhoven if I have a day off. For me, PSV is a second home, I owe a lot to the club, here I was able to become better,” the Ukrainian said then.
Zinchenko managed to play only one match against PSV in official tournaments. In the 2022/23 Europa League, Arsenal was placed in the same group with Eindhoven, but then the Ukrainian was forced to miss both matches due to a fibula injury (the Gunners won at home with a score of 1:0, but lost in the Netherlands – 0: 2). But in the last season of the Champions League, when the draw again brought Londoners and Eindhoven into the same group, Zinchenko still played in the home match, when “Arsenal” left no stone unturned for the guests – 4:0.
Zinchenko went to the away match in Eindhoven as part of the “Arsenal” delegation, but did not go on the field, and the “Gunners” drew (1:1). At the same time, in December 2023, Alexander gave an Arsenal T-shirt to PSV fans, and also posted a photo on social networks of him against the background of a stand with the most famous ex-football players of PSV, where there was also a place for his ego. Zinchenko accompanied this picture with a very warm comment: “Great memories.”
Against Shakhtar, which will now face PSV in the 2024/25 Champions League, Zinchenko played twice – both times in a Manchester City shirt, and in both cases the matches ended in the defeat of the “Miners” (6:0 – in the 2018 Champions League /19 and 3:0 – in the Champions League-19/20). In the current draw of the continent’s most prestigious club tournament, Zinchenko had a chance to play against the “miners” in the match of the third round of the general stage in London, but then “Arsenal” minimally coped with the Ukrainians (1:0) and without Alexander, who sat the entire match on the bench.
Source: sport.ua