Our very own Oleksandr Zinchenko was among the Arsenal supporters who were fortunate enough to snap a picture with the Gunners great during Tony Adams’ visit to the Emirates earlier this season.

Since he was a little child, Alex has been a fan of Arsenal, so he is well-versed in the history of the team and the well-known red and white uniforms. He therefore didn’t pass up the chance to meet “Mr Arsenal,” even requesting our club photographer to record the event.

“That’s true, indeed!” Alex grinned. I asked Stuart MacFarlane, the club photographer, if he would snap a picture and also introduce me to Tony. He truly is a legend. I am aware of his notoriety and have watched online videos of him playing, but I also recall what my former national team coach, Andrey Shevchenko, said. He used to tell me all the time that Tony Adams was the hardest defender he had ever played against. 

“When we first met, I told Tony that. He was chuckling, saying things like “What a jоker Tony is,” but also “What a player he was.” Thank heavens my career didn’t require me to compete against him!

It should come as no surprise that Alex, an Arsenal defender now, took inspiration from players like Adams, who is regarded as our nation’s best defender ever. However, the international player from Ukrаine admits that his early inspirations were actually the game’s flair players, especially Ronaldinho, one of the most adept No. 10s ever. 

He clarifies, “I was a striker myself when I started.” I played left winger back then, midfield, and left back now. Maybe I’ll end up playing goalie or centre back! However, I particularly liked to watch the strikers, particularly Ronaldinho during his time at Barcelona. He was simply amazing.

Everybody had an idol, and Ronaldinho was mine. He is, in my opinion, the best player of all time. Although everyone has different preferences and tastes, and Lionel Messi is unquestionably one of the finest, in my opinion, Ronaldinho was the greatest.

But Alex was an Arsenal fan from birth, and our squad in the mid-2000s had enough talented players to have him fall in love with the Gunners.  

“I loved watching players like Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Dennis Bergkamp too”

“I’ve always followed Arsenal,” he claims. People are aware that when I was younger, I was an Arsenal fan. That’s because I also like watching players like Dennis Bergkamp, Cesc Fabregas, and Thierry Henry. I observed him, but mostly I observed a little later, when Henry and Robin van Persie were up front. It was an amazing team, and Cesc was there as well. 

Because there weren’t many television channels available when I was growing up, I watched every Arsenal game as well as every Barcelona game and the Champions League.

Oleksandr continues, “When I was a child, my idols were the best football players because I wаnted to be a player.” “You don’t really think of it as inspiration at the time, but as you get older, you realise that those players and those people really inspired you to do what you’re doing now.”

Alex looks for inspiration and stimulation closer to home now that he is the one mentoring aspiring young football players both in his native nation and abroad. He says, “When I was younger, my favourite football players to watch were the players themselves. But now, my family is my biggest source of inspiration. They are on my mind all the time. That includes my spouse, my child, and my two pets. 

In training, Oleksandr Zinchenko celebrates with Gabriel Martinelli

Of course, my entire family—my parents, my wife’s parents, and my grandparents—is also included. The entire family, but my wife and my child are the closest. My family is tight, even though I am an only child and don’t have any brothers or sisters.

So, his two main sources of inspiration are football and his family. And the two have been intimately associated for the whole of his career and life thus far. 

A football team, in his words, “is like your second family.” “You sometimes spend more time with your team than with your wife and child at home! You work so hard!” Therefore, it’s critical that your team members feel like family as well.

When Alex transferred teams for the first time as a young player—indeed, very young player—it was never more significant. “I’m from a very small city, with a population of just 12,000 people,” the full-back begins. “I was with the local team back in Ukrаine, called Karpatiya.” When I was six or seven years old, we used to train there twice a week. When I was eleven years old, I transferred to another academy called Monolit Illichvsk, which was 550 km distant from my house. 

“I kept saying it was my dream to play for Arsenal one day, so when I signed, and I joined up with the team in America – it was a different feeling”

So when I was eleven years old, I moved out. I used to cry into my pillow for the first several months I was there,” he remembers. “My family and I went through a lot in the beginning, but my coaching staff there really helped me out. Since 550 miles is a long way from home, I really needed those coaches’ help. For this reason, in my opinion, your football squad is also your family.

However, Alex had crucial early-career support from his real family, particularly from his mother. He claimed that his ability to triumph over hardship at such a young age had served him well throughout the years and aided in his adjustment to English football. 

“I played a few trial games when I first came to Monolit, and I did well,” he says. “I made a lot of assists and I scored a few goals.” I performed well both as a left winger and as a striker in the two games I played. 

They wаnted to abduct me, but as I recall, I was lodging in a hotel room with two goalkeepers at the time. Both of them attended the trial as well. That was a day I vividly recall. I overheard one of the keepers sobbing into his mother’s phone when they were outside on the balcony, pleading with her to take him back home. What did I do, then, after realising that? I followed suit exactly! I apologised that I couldn’t finish the call to my mother.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, a player for Shakhtar Donetsk versus Arsenal: “She was really good; she was enquiring as to whether there was a problem.” I spent a few days visiting her at home, but after that I was alright. I returned to the club after she chatted with me, supported me, and helped me feel better. After that, I was alright, and the coaches took good care of me. 

“That encounter gave me a lot more strength.” I was much stronger in my head than I realised because I had made that motion when I was a little child. Because of what I had done when I was eleven, it was therefore much easier for me to go to the UK when I was nineteen. My maturity had already increased significantly when I went to sign with Manchester City. I was prepared, even at the age of 19.

Alex is now comfortably settled into English football. Prior to joining us this summer, he was the winner of four Premier League crowns, four League Cups, and one FA Cup while at City. At the age of 26, he claims to have already discovered the sense of family he so desperately craves at his new club. He’s only been here for less than six months, but he has a considerably longer history with the club. 

“When I was fifteen, I used to wear the Arsenal shirt,” he recalls. “Have you seen the photo I posted on social media of myself wearing the jersey with my former teammates? I was a huge Arsenal fan, so wearing it at the time already had a unique sensation. 

“I won’t lie to you, it meant a lot to wear that as a fan,” says a young Oleksandr Zinchenko about his Arsenal shirt. It was a different feeling when I signed and joined the club in America during preseason because I had always said it was my ambition to play there. 

“It was definitely a totally different experience from when I wore it when I was fifteen years old! I will never forget my first game, which was a friendly versus Chelsea when I was on tour. I had a great time that night, especially considering the outcome (we won 4-0 in Orlando) and the sheer number of Arsenal fans in the stadium. These are emotions that are difficult to put into words.

“I then made my official first-team debut against Crystal Palace away in the Premier League.” That night, my wife was in the stands, watching me. She was astounded that the fans were singing a song for me in just five minutes. 

“This kind of welcome from the fans is something we could never have imagined,” he remarks. It was astounding. I want to express my sincere gratitude to everyone for that, and I will always be appreciative. For that reason, every time I step onto the pitch, I give it my all for the team.