Mikel Arteta says £150,000-a-week Arsenal man is truly an ‘exceptional player’

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of his side’s game against Luton Town tonight.

The Gunners will look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points at Kenilworth Road later today. Zinchenko is expected to start, and despite his mistake against Wolves, Arteta has complete faith in him.

Mikel Arteta praises Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko

Arsenal signed Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City last year.

The Ukraine international became a fan favourite at the Emirates right after he joined the club, and he played a massive part in helping the Gunners become title contenders.

Zinchenko remains a key part of Arsenal‘s side, but his defending, like it was last season, is still his weakness, and that was evident against Wolves last Saturday.

The £150,000-a-week (Spotrac) left-back’s mistake allowed the visitors to score and that led to a nervy ending to what would otherwise have been an easy finish to the game.

Arteta was asked about Zinchenko yesterday, and the Arsenal boss, despite his left-back’s error, was full of praise for him.

He said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “With Alex, the win rate that we have is incredibly high. That’s it, he’s an exceptional player, he gives us so much and we are so happy to have him.

“He makes us more dominant, the way he progresses the ball, the way he defends forward, he’s really intuitive, he has so much courage to play in any role you put him, he wants the ball, he wants to play, he wants to take opportunities to damage the opponent and I love that about him.”

Arsenal star Zinchenko has improved defensively

Oleksandr Zinchenko will be the first one to admit that he made a mistake in the game against Wolves – he has never been one to hide.

He has come under a lot of criticism since that game, and some of it is warranted.

However, it’s only fair to say that up until that game against Wolves, Zinchenko looked incredibly assured at the back and earned a lot of praise from fans.

One bad game should not make people forget the improvement he had shown in the weeks leading up to last Saturday.