Oleksandr Zinchenko: “Hearing that ‘Manchester City’ is interested in me, Fomenko burst out laughing”

Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko spoke about how Mykhailo Fomenko reacted to Manchester City’s interest in him.

“The agent contacted me with some extraordinary news. So what he told me sounded like a cruel joke: ‘Alex, Manchester City asked about you.’ ‘Manchester City’?! They were Premier League champions in 2014. They just hired Pep Guardiola for the next season, the best coach in world football. It was funny. ‘Zenit’, Dortmund — I understand, I said. — But ‘Manchester City’?! Now you've gone too far!”

He assured me that their interest was genuine. My head was spinning. I was one step away from the Euros, and no one could imagine such a move. I immediately got confirmation of this.

The coach of the Ukrainian national team Mykhailo Fomenko called me for a conversation to repeat the warning that Holovko gave me a few months ago. For me, it was unacceptable to play in Russia. ‘Alex, do you understand that if you decide to continue playing in Russia, you will no longer play for the national team?’ Now I understood that they were serious. I felt it was a good opportunity to share some potentially good news with Fomenko.

I told him that I had a few options abroad. Fomenko is a man who is always dead serious. He never smiles, never shows any emotions. You can never tell from his face whether the team wins 3:0 or loses 0:3. He asked: ‘Where?’ And I replied: ‘Well, my agent received a message from Manchester City. I could go there.’

This stern coach, who never smiles, just looked at me and burst out laughing. This kid from Ufa, 18 years old? ‘Manchester City’?! Obviously, this was some kind of joke. I almost laughed along with him because I couldn’t believe it either. I didn’t tell anyone, fearing to jinx it, and also because I knew that most people would have the same dismissive reaction,” Zinchenko quotes his autobiography “VZbirna”.