William Saliba makes feelings clear about £30m Arsenal star who Mikel Arteta could sell

William Saliba has been very complimentary about Oleksandr Zinchenko, who currently faces an uncertain future at Arsenal. The 28-year-old defender has recently entered the final year of his contract, and he’s been linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium.

Zinchenko only featured 15 times for the Gunners in the Premier League this season, having struggled to stay fit during the first half of the campaign. He only made a handful of appearances in the Champions League, too, with Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori preferred at left-back.

The Ukraine international has fallen down the pecking order in north London, forcing Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta to make a difficult decision. The duo must consider whether they’d rather risk losing Zinchenko for free next year or cut their losses and cash in.

In the meantime, the Ukrainian has been enjoying his time off during the summer. Zinchenko has been in action at the World Padel Academy, rubbing shoulders with Khalfan Juma Belhoul, an Arsenal fan and friend of Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the Manchester City chairman.

In the comment section, Saliba heaped great praise on his teammate, who could leave this summer. The Gunners defender wrote: “You the best at everything [love heart eyes emoji].”

Saliba has always been close to Zinchenko. Back in 2023, the France international named the Ukrainian as the funniest man in the Arsenal squad.

Speaking to Stadium Astro, Saliba said: “[Rob] Holding is very funny, Ben White is funny as well. [But] Zinchenko is the best for me, the most funny. So funny, he’s crazy! We have a lot of different types of guys in the dressing room, it’s always good.”

Zinchenko has also had some nice words to say about Saliba in the past. Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s Youtube channel, the Arsenal left-back commented on the Frenchman and his meteoric rise.

“Rolls-Royce,” said Zinchenko. “So good, I love him so much. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know him before I came to Arsenal when I saw him from the training sessions, I said: ‘Who is this guy?

“Then, first game against Chelsea, pre-season, zero mistakes. This guy never makes mistakes. Then he scored the goal with the left foot against Bournemouth. I went to my knees because I said: ‘This guy, he can do everything’.”

While Zinchenko enjoys his time off, he’s been linked with a move away from Arsenal. According to CaughtOffside, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus are all interested in signing the defender this summer.

The report claims that the Gunners want £15m for Zinchenko, but his £5m annual salary could prove to be a stumbling block in negotiations with potential suitors. Arsenal forked out £30m to sign the defender from Man City in July 2022.