A number of Arsenal fans believe Oleksandr Zinchenko has been trying to help land touted transfer target Declan Rice after footage emerged online
What did Oleksandr Zinchenko say to Declan Rice?
On Sunday evening, England picked up all three points in their Euro 2024 qualifying match as they beat Ukraine 2-0 in front of a packed Wembley stadium.
In fact, it was one man from north London who seemed to steal the show. Indeed, Arsenal star boy Bukayo Saka set up the first goal before slamming home a sumptuous second to give the Three Lions the victory.
At full-time, however, as players from both teams took a moment to shake hands with one another, eagle-eyed viewers spotted a brief exchange between Rice and Zinchenko.
Now, the West Ham United star has been heavily linked with a summer move to the Gunners with reports suggesting he is particularly keen on playing for Mikel Arteta.
And it seems as though the Arsenal left-back was keen to find out for himself if these claims are true as he looked to have possibly asked Rice: “You joining?”
It’s unclear what Rice says in response and perhaps it’s just fans getting ahead of themselves as there is no guarantee this topic was even remotely on Zinchenko’s mind. However, it’s hard not to be a little excited about the recent rumours at the very least.
After all, the midfielder has been pretty impressive in the international break and even picked up the man of the match award in the win over Italy.
In fact, Arsenal journalist Charles Watts seemed extremely impressed after the performance. Indeed, of Rice, he said: “He was so good in that game, especially in the first half when he absolutely ran the show in Naples.”
If he is to join, he’ll no doubt need a big rise on his reported £60,000-per-week wages, and he might set the Gunners back over £100m. But if Zinchenko really was asking about his chances, it would prove just how highly-rated the England star is.
Here are some of the best Twitter reactions to the footage…
