Alexander Vladimirovich Zinchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who acts as a midfielder in Manchester City and the national team of Ukraine. Previously, the footballer played for FC Ufa, and was also on loan from the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. As part of the "sky blue" is the champion of the English Premier League 2017/18 and the owner of the Football League Cup 2018. A. Zinchenko is 175 centimeters tall and weighs 73 kg.
Held 29 matches at the youth level of the national team of Ukraine. Alexander Zinchenko is the youngest author in the history of his national team, breaking the record of Andrey Shevchenko. This happened on May 29, 2016 in a friendly match against Romania.
Biography: early career of a football player
Alexander Zinchenko was born on December 15, 1996 in the city of Radomyshl, Ukraine. Since childhood, football for a guy has been a favorite pastime. His father, Vladimir Zinchenko, was also a football player in the past, so for his son he became the first coach and teacher. In September 2004, Alexander was admitted to the local children's and youth sports school, where he began to train and perform at city and regional competitions. As part of the children's team of the Radomyshl Youth Sports School “Carpathia”, Zinchenko was distinguished by a very spectacular and effective game in attack.
Between 2004 and 2008 Alexander Zinchenko’s team was the permanent leader of regional and Ukrainian championships. The first coach of Sasha was Sergey Vladimirovich Boretsky (now the head of the football association of the Zhytomyr region), who laid down all the fundamental qualities of a football player in the attacking team. Alexander Zinchenko performed the tactical settings of the coach for all five points, and also contributed to the game in terms of “feints” and creative transfers to partners. It was the coach Sergei Boretsky who organized the guy’s viewing of the Donetsk Shakhtar and the Ilyichevsk Monolith in reserve.
Youth career at Shakhtar
At the age of sixteen, Zinchenko moved to the Donetsk Shakhtar youth academy, where the football player continued his football practice. As part of the Pitmen, Alexander Zinchenko became the captain of the team under 19 years old. It was the performances in the youth of Shakhtar that the midfielder attracted public attention, including from Europe. In 2013, in the first season of the UEFA Youth League, a young football player Alexander Zinchenko scored a goal in a game with the English Manchester United. In total, he played 7 matches in this tournament. In 2014, Kazan “Rubin” became interested in Ukrainian talent - for some time the parties held negotiations on a transfer, but Shakhtar representatives refused to give their player back. Zinchenko himself expressed a desire to move to another club, so the player was annoyed to learn that the transfer with Rubin had failed.
Career behind FC Ufa
On February 12, 2015, Alexander Zinchenko signed a contract with the Russian FC Ufa. The debut match of the newcomer in the Premier League took place on March 20 of the same year in the match against Krasnodar - Alexander came on as a substitute after the break and spent all 45 minutes on the field. July 25, 2015, the Ukrainian became the author of his first goal in the “citizens” at the goal of “Rostov” (defeat 1: 2).
In early 2015, Alexander Zinchenko wanted to obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation in order not to play in the championship as a legionnaire. Later, the footballer changed his mind and did not take Russian citizenship.
On December 3, 2015, in the 18th round of the Russian Football Premier League between Zenit and Ufa, at the 37th minute of the meeting, Zinchenko scored a goal and put his team ahead. This goal was the 15th anniversary in the history of the Russian championship.
Towards the end of the 2015/16 season, information began to circulate in the media that clubs such as Roma, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev are interested in Alexander Zinchenko.
Transfer to Manchester City and rental at PSV Eindhoven
On July 4, 2016, the midfielder signed a five-year contract with Sky Blue. Player debut took place on July 20 in a friendly match with Bayern Munich.
In the summer of the same year, the Ukrainian was leased by PSV Eindhoven for one season, during which he spent 12 matches and became the author of three assists.
Career at Manchester City: coach Pep Guardiola counts on a Ukrainian in the future
On February 25, 2017, Alexander Zinchenko won the 2017/18 Football League Cup as part of MS. Upon his return to the English club, there were many rumors about Zinchenko's new rental transition. Among the most likely clubs were the Turkish Fenerbahçe and the Italian Napoli. However, the head coach of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, left the young Ukrainian in the squad, telling him personally “boy, I will still need you.”
Zinchenko made his debut for the club on December 14, 2017 in the Premier League match against Swansea City, substituting in the 72nd minute. The young midfielder spent only 20 minutes on the field, during which time Zinchenko successfully fit into the pace of the team, was active in creating attacks and received high scores according to the results of the meeting.