Nottingham Forest have decided they no longer want Arsenal loanee Oleksandr Zinchenko, as the Gunners hold talks with Ajax over a January move.
James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that Oleksandr Zinchenko is no longer wanted at Nottingham Forest, despite joining the club on a season-long loan last summer.
Arsenal are open to facilitating a move for Zinchenko, and they’ve held talks with Ajax over a possible loan or permanent arrangement.
McNicholas adds that Zinchenko is unlikely to return to Arsenal this month, regardless of whether Ajax can do a deal or not.
For Arsenal, the negotiations are relatively low stakes. If things don’t work out with Ajax, Forest will have to keep Zinchenko, as they don’t have any break clause to terminate the deal early and send him back to London.
Zinchenko’s deal expires in the summer anyway, so it wouldn’t have a particularly significant impact on Arsenal if he ends up stuck in Nottingham not playing matches.
But Arsenal would presumably prefer to respect Zinchenko’s wishes if possible, and if they can agree a permanent deal with Ajax then that would put an end to the saga for good.
Zinchenko started the season in Forest’s starting lineup, but a couple of injuries hit him hard. Spending two of your first three months at a club out of action is far from ideal, and the 29-year-old returned to find he was a squad player at best.
As it became clear that the Ukraine international’s best option was to leave, Forest stopped picking him for their matchday squads entirely. He’s now on a three-game run without an appearance on the bench.