Oleksandr Zinchenko interview: Life after Arsenal, Dyche's Forest impact and the 'scar' war has left 

Oleksandr Zinchenko of Nottingham Forest shoots during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD6 match between FC Utrecht and Nottingham Forest. Pic: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

It is Thursday afternoon at one of the City Ground’s plush suites and Oleksandr Zinchenko is asked by a rather convincing looking Santa what he would like for Christmas. 

“Three points,” he says, to the nodding approval of manager Sean Dyche a few metres to his left and cheers from many of the 100 children invited as part of Nottingham Forest’s festive community efforts.

Posing for photographs with guests wearing smiles as wide as the Trent and signing everything from retro kits to school uniforms, Zinchenko looks more than happy to be here approaching the end of a difficult year.

Actually, difficult may be underselling it.

He began 2025 slipping inexorably down the pecking order at Arsenal, describing the 2024/25 campaign in which he made just five Premier League starts as “easily the worst season I ever experienced as a professional” in his recently released autobiography.

The emergence of Myles Lewis-Skelly and signing of Riccardo Calafiori meant Zinchenko was shunted from first-choice left back down to an unused substitute offered occasional scraps at the end of games.

While admiring the former’s ability and continuing to give everything he could in training, being inactive on matchday left him feeling “ashamed” because “a player who doesn’t play is nothing”. 

The summer passed by with little hope of a reprieve as Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, added more impressive depth to a squad entering now-or-never mode. But deadline day offered an alternative path to regular minutes as Forest arrived with an offer to take him on loan.

Back in European competition for the first time in three decades and with the sense of a club remaining on a sharp upward trajectory, it appeared a good move.

Except, unbeknown to him at the time, head coach Nuno Espirito Santo was nearing the exit after a spectacular falling out with the club’s decision-makers. The Portuguese, now at West Ham, would be replaced by Ange Postecoglou within a week of Zinchenko’s arrival.

His debut came in Postecoglou’s second match in charge, a chastening League Cup loss away to Swansea City, before playing every minute of the next three fixtures.

Results were suboptimal, of course, but his own rhythm was improving when a groin injury sidelined him for three weeks.

He would return in time for the final match of Postecoglou’s miserable 39-day reign, lasting 73 minutes of the loss to Chelsea, before starting the first game under Dyche, against Porto. That, however, ended after 44 promising minutes as the groin problem returned with a vengeance.

Zinchenko hobbled off with tears in his eyes, knowing immediately that he was set for a lengthy spell out just as results and the mood across the entire club were about to pick up.

Seven weeks passed before he returned in another European win, away to Utrecht, nine days ago. Now, Zinchenko says, it is time to show his gratitude to Forest for the opportunity they have afforded him by performing on the pitch.

“I feel amazing,” he says. “It's a big club, amazing people around. I would like to say massive thanks, using this opportunity, to all the people and fans as well, for the warm welcome.

“And I really feel that I need to give much more to the club.” 

Should he be involved away to Fulham on Monday night and earn those desired three points to lift Forest farther away from relegation concerns, the wider fanbase will soon become endeared to a player whose commitment can never be questioned.

“It's always better when you have results,” he says. “Every single time when we get some points, we are so excited for the next ones.

“Every single game now is very important, they are huge for us, so we're going to fight to give our best, to get the points which we really want to get. Let's see how it's going to end up.” 

Forest’s improvements under Dyche are indisputable. Six wins from eight in all competitions leave them well placed to progress to the Europa League knockouts and, most crucially, they are five points clear of the final relegation spot, presently occupied by Nuno’s Hammers.

The key has been Dyche’s well-known physical demands and on the morning of this festive event the manager had them going flat out on the training pitch.

“Every day we work so hard to get our fitness level to the level where it should be,” Zinchenko says. “And then obviously, we all know that in modern football today, you need to be fully ready. You have to be a great athlete first, and then the rest, of course, will come.” 

With Zinchenko, like any member of the Ukrainian diaspora, it is impossible to contextualise any conversation about football without mentioning the personal reality.

Over the past three years he has spoken about it so often, so eloquently and so passionately that there seems little new to say without any significant change to the war.

He is still watching the news every day, still feeling the pain when horror stories emerge and still worrying about his family who remain in the town of Radomyshl, slightly west of Kyiv.

“Honestly, it's a big scar inside of myself. I really feel sorry for the people who have been living there since day one, since the main invasion, and I really hope that peace will come very, very soon,” he says.

Zinchenko takes pride in being a sporting ambassador, using his platform to maintain awareness and ensuring those not directly invested do not forget.

“Those who are playing abroad, since day one we felt that this is our responsibility, to use this kind of advantage, using football, the biggest platform in the world, every single time when we have opportunities to talk about it,” he adds.

“People need to know the truth, what's going on, because at the moment there's a lot of propaganda as well on the opposite side. And yeah, of course, sending some stuff, money, helping people, this is the best thing we really can do.” 

Back in the Robin Hood suite, Zinchenko looks entirely at ease working his way across the room. Every club does a little more in the community this time of year but Forest’s work casts a wide net. 

Some team-mates had spent the morning helping at a local foodbank, others paid a visit to the local children’s hospital and after the Fulham game another set will attend a coffee morning with some older fans.

“I wish I could have met first team players at their age when I was younger,” he says, decked out in a loud Christmas jumper. 

“It's an amazing thing to do. We need to do it much, much, much more often.” 

Three points may have been the crowd-pleasing response but of all his private footballing wishes it seems a safe bet to say an injury-free run to allow him regular playing time will be near the top.

His future beyond this season-long loan will not become clear for some months. 

“I don't know yet, let's see,” he says and after such a period of tumult no one can blame him for placing his focus on going “step by step and working hard” to regain his best form.