Pep Guardiola has admitted it was nice to be able to say a proper goodbye to Oleksandr Zinchenko before letting the defender join Arsenal.

Manchester City have parted ways with a few long-term servants of the club this summer, with Raheem Sterling joining Chelsea and Gabriel Jesus joining Arsenal earlier in the window.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is the next to go, also joining Arsenal in a deal worth £30m.

Though that deal won’t be made official until Zinchenko completes his medical and signs on the dotted line, there’s little doubt that it’s going ahead.

Pep Guardiola confirmed as much in his most recent press conference, showing his gratitude to the departing trio and admitting it was nice they could at least say a proper goodbye to Zinchenko.

“From myself and I think on behalf of the club, our gratitude for the effort, for how they behave on and off the pitch,” Guardiola said.

“It was nice yesterday with Alex [Zinchenko] because we could say bye properly. Unfortunately, with Raheem [Sterling] and Gabriel [Jesus] we could not do it because it was the summertime.

“But yesterday at dinner together we could say bye to him and (he can) move on to Arsenal.”

Manchester City star Rodri has also confirmed the transfer, saying the squad will miss the 25-year-old. Assuming the second part of the medical goes to plan, we should get an announcement not long after that.

The fee is believed to be £30m, with an extra £2m in achievable add-ons, and David Ornstein reports that the Ukraine international will be signing a four-year deal if all goes to plan.

Charles Watts previously claimed Arsenal were hoping Zinchenko will be able to play during the U.S. tour, which now seems very possible.

The Gunners have a game on Wednesday night (Thursday morning UK time) and another on Saturday night (Sunday morning UK time).

If all goes to plan, Zinchenko could certainly at least play some minutes in the latter fixture.