Oleksandr Zinchenko has hailed the abilities of Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus after Arsenal’s fast start to the new Premier League season.
The 25-year-old arrived at the Emirates Stadium from Manchester City this summer as one of Mikel Arteta’s main summer signings.
Alongside teammate Jesus, who also opted to leave Premier League champions City for Arsenal, Zinchenko has hit the ground running, and has played a key role in wins over Crystal Palace and Leicester.
Martinelli has also showed what he can do in both outings, scoring in each game, while Jesus was in inspired form against Leicester. The Brazilian netted twice – his first goal a sumptuous curled finish into the top corner – and he could conceivably have scored four or five were it not for good saves from Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward.
Zinchenko isn’t surprised by what he’s seen from Jesus, and has also backed “real diamond” Martinelli to be a huge star in the future. The Ukrainian has also revealed what it’s like to compete with Kieran Tierney for a starting berth, having taken the Scot’s position at left-back for the first two games.
How good could Martinelli be?
“He is incredible, he is a real diamond,” Zinchenko told Standard Sport. “I would say exactly the same things about him that I say about Gabriel Jesus.
“The way these two guys are working — how everyone is working really — every single day is unbelievable. He (Martinelli) has got amazing quality and he’s still young. I am pretty sure he has an unbelievable future.”
What does Jesus bring to Arsenal?
“I never had any doubts about him, because he’s a world-class player in terms of his numbers,” Zinchenko said.
“You can see it as well in how he works along with his attitude every day in training. He’s an example. He’s an incredible player, always hungry for goals. He doesn’t stop at all and I’m so happy for him.”
What’s Tierney like to compete with?
“He is an amazing player. Even when I was at City I was watching his games,” said Zinchenko. “I think it is good competition for each of us.
“We are going to push each other, and I think that’s the key. That’s how we need to move on. The most important thing is both of us want to try and help the team as much as we can.”