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Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has claimed that the Gunners are ready to compete with the best teams in the world. The Ukraine international has insisted that Mikel Arteta's side are ready to fight for both domestic and continental glory.
The Gunners are embroiled in an intense three-horse title race with Manchester City and Liverpool. They kept the pressure on their title rivals with a comfortable 2-0 victory over lowly Luton Town on Wednesday, April 3.
Arsenal have also made their way to the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season for the first time since 2009-10. They will be up against German giants Bayern Munich with the first leg set to be played at the Emirates on April 9.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has claimed that the north London side are up for the fight and are fancying their chances. He said, as quoted by The Irish Examiner:
“Yeah, I won’t lie to you, 100 per cent because it shows that we are ready to compete with the best teams in the world. It’s not easy to play against City away and also Liverpool away and the other teams as well – I don’t want to be disrespectful to the others. It shows that Arsenal are ready to fight for it. We know that we are fighting for something big this season. I can’t tell you this right now because there is still a lot of games to play."
The former Manchester City star added:
"We already have this experience from last season, where we were quite far from the others and then in the end we didn’t do what we wanted. This experience we need to take with us and then let’s see what is going to happen. This year all of us we’ve got more experience, we’ve played with each other much, much more and I think we’re improving.”
Arsenal have leapfrogged Liverpool in the title race with their win against Luton on Wednesday. However, Jurgen Klopp's side could once again go to top when they face Sheffield United on Thursday, April 4.
Arsene Wenger opens up on missing out on current Arsenal star
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he fought hard to sign now-Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard but missed out to Real Madrid. The Norwegian emerged as one of the most coveted footballers on the planet at a very young age and was wanted by almost every top club across Europe.
Odegaard created history by debuting as a 15-year-old for Stromsgodset back in 2014. He was invited to train by several top European clubs including Arsenal but it was Real Madrid who won the race to land the teenage prodigy.
While recalling missing out on the technically gifted attacking midfielder, Wenger said (via GOAL):
"Yes, I remember him (Odegaard) very well. We did fight like mad to get him. I got him in a training session and I remember Steve Morrow brought him into training with his father. He reminded me of Fabregas, good vision, good technical quality, and easy with professional players in the first team. You could see something special there but in the end, he has chosen to go to Real Madrid."
Odegaard joined Real Madrid in 2015 and only managed to make 11 senior appearances for Los Blancos. He joined the Gunners permanently in the summer of 2021 in a deal worth €40 million after a six-month loan spell with the north London giants.
