Oleksandr Zinchenko expected to leave Arsenal in January with Dortmund ready to make move

German club puts left-back at top of wanted list after missing out on Chelsea’s Renato Veiga, who is heading to Juventus on loan

Posted Friday, January 24, 2025 by telegraph.co.uk

Oleksandr Zinchenko is expected to leave Arsenal before the January transfer window shuts with Borussia Dortmund ready to make a move for the left-back.

Dortmund are in the market for a new left-back and are believed to have put Zinchenko at the top of their wanted list after missing out on Chelsea's Renato Veiga.

Chelsea have agreed to allow Veiga to move to Juventus on loan for the rest of the season, despite initially insisting he could only leave permanently.

Dortmund had made an offer for Veiga and have now been forced to look elsewhere. Chelsea's Ben Chilwell is thought to be another player the Germans have considered, but Zinchecko is currently rated as their top target.

Zinchenko started Arsenal's Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night, but has fallen behind Arsenal teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly in Mikel Arteta's pecking order.

Lewis-Skelly suffered a knee injury in the draw with Aston Villa and Arsenal may want to see the results of a scan before allowing Zinchenko to leave.

But Arteta also has Riccardo Calafiori, who was on the substitutes' bench against Zagreb, back from injury and the belief is that Zinchenko will be allowed to leave before this month's transfer window closes.

Arsenal signed Zinchenko in a £30 million deal from Manchester City in July 2022 and the 28-year-old has made 81 appearances for the club, where he is a popular figure inside the dressing room and with staff.

Dortmund this week sacked manager Nuri Sahin and have been linked with making former Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag his replacement.

Juventus have told Veiga that he will play in his favoured position in the centre of defence, which may have contributed to the Italians beating Dortmund to his loan signature.

Veiga wants to play more regularly at centre-back and it was eventually decided by Chelsea that it was better to let him go, even on loan, than keep him in Enzo Maresca's squad and risk him becoming unhappy.

There remains optimism inside Chelsea that Chilwell will find a loan move away from the club before the transfer window shuts, but his possible destination remains unclear.