Oleksandr Zinchenko is a player on the rise. At 21, the attacking midfielder has drawn interest from Premier League new boys Wolverhampton Wanderers. Reports suggest a deal worth £16m is being lined up with a view to lure the young talent away from the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City had brought in the Ukraine international at the start of the 2016-2017 league season and subsequently sent the player to the Eredivisie for a year-long loan to develop further. At PSV Eindhoven, Zinchenko gained enough experience to return to City and keep a place for himself on the squad. He made his City debut on the 24th of October, 2017.
Wolves secured a ticket back into the Premier League by being crowned the EFL Championship winners and have already started to strengthen their squad with the captures of Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio and Mexican Striker Raul Jimenez.
Newcastle United are also looking at the possibility of signing the Ukrainian midfielder as they look to further boost their chances of securing a place in Europe next season with the Europa League. Premier League survival for the Magpies is expected but a good run in the domestic cup competitions would be a massive coup for Rafael Benitez’s black and white army.
Benitez has already brought in experienced midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng from Swansea City on a free transfer and has acquired Brazilian wing-back Kenedy on a season-long loan from current FA Cup champions Chelsea. Both players will give Newcastle the dynamism needed in front of goal and Zinchenko will definitely contribute to the team’s efforts.
Despite being primarily an attacking midfielder, Zinchenko has shown his ability to be versatile as the player was converted into a left wing back under the guidance of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City last season. He made 14 appearances for the Citizens being an understudy to the injured Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph. The ability to be deployed in different positions will only leave Rafael Benitez with more options on approaching different games and getting the desired results they need. Zinchenko can also be pushed further upfield to support the likes of Kenedy, Ayoze Perez and Christian Atsu.
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Exciting times ahead for everyone involved with Newcastle United. A club with such rich tradition is always expected to fight for every point that is available and the potential addition of a player like Zinchenko might help them go that extra mile in search of silverware in the next term.
