It was entirely in keeping with his character for Oleksandr Zinchenko to rock up at Arsenal in the summer and tell his new teammates they needed to forget their top three ambitions and think about winning the title instead. It is also no surprise that those who laughed at the Ukrainian initially are no longer doing so.
Most of Zinchenko's career has been about proving people wrong. Manchester City were willing to let him leave during most transfer windows in the six years he was at City, happy for him to take the easier option of finding regular football elsewhere rather than trying to break into Pep Guardiola's side.
Each time Zinchenko declined, and each time he found a way of working his way into the City team by the end of the season. In 2021, there were no raised eyebrows when he kept Joao Cancelo out of the starting XI for the Champions League final while he had a pivotal role in their dramatic 3-2 win over Aston Villa on the final day of last season to see them pip Liverpool to the title.
