Oleksandr Zinchenko wins Arsenal player of the month for January

Oleksandr Zinchenko has been Arsenal’s player of the month for January 2023, confirms Arsenal’s official website.

The Ukraine international full-back has won the hearts of the Emirates Stadium since he signed from champions Manchester City in the summer.

What makes Oleksandr Zinchenko so special?

He suffered an injury at the start of the season but since returning, he has pretty much played every match for the Gunners. According to Transfermarkt, Zinny has started in 60% of Arsenal’s matches this season, contributing one assist in 16 appearances.

Zinchenko’s arrival at Arsenal has completely revolutionised their tactics. The left-back is a completely fluid defender whose heatmaps are very unpredictable. More often than not, he is seen drifting into midfield positions, where he plays his best football.

He is dubbed by many as the best transfer of the season so far and it’s clear to see why. If you think back to Arsenal last season, they were crying out for a player like Zinchenko. They looked too predictable in possession and too easy to beat when out of possession. Zinny changes that – he gives the opposition plenty to think about and be confused by, which is the beauty of having a player like him.

To read our rankings of the 3 best signings in January, click here.

Arsenal’s player of the month award is voted for by fans. Therefore, it shows how much fans appreciate him by winning 48% percent of the votes – that’s almost half. Honourable mentions must go to Eddie Nketiah who came second and Martin Odegaard who came third.

The thing that is most noticeable about Zinchenko, though, is his passion. You can see he wants to win. When he doesn’t win, he is visibly frustrated. When he does win, it’s hard to tell whether he’s angry or happy but given the fact he is hugging fans, we’ll go for him being happy. That’s just who he is.

What has been your favourite Oleksandr Zinchenko performance so far this season?