Ajax and Arsenal have reportedly agreed on the 1.5-million-euro transfer of Zinchenko, who will earn Arsenal extra if the Amsterdam side qualifies for next year's UEFA Champions League.
Zinchenko, 31, was initially set to join Ajax on loan, but Dutch law prevented any non-EU player earning less than €260,000 from obtaining a work permit, so the two sides worked on a permanent move instead. The transfer still took time to finalise, with Arsenal unwilling to take on most of Zinchenko's wages after his contract was terminated. Ajax set Arsenal a deadline, with the Amsterdam club needing clarity before Friday evening.
Arsenal budged, allowing Zinchenko to travel to Amsterdam on Friday afternoon. It is expected that the Ukrainian international will complete his medical and sign a six-month contract on the same day.
Ajax and Zinchenko have agreed on the short-term contract to further evaluate the cooperation in the summer, when technical director Jordi Cruyff, who starts at Ajax on February 1st, will have seen enough of the left-back.
Necessary experience
Zinchenko, a 75-time Ukrainian international, will become Ajax's fourth winter acquisition after Takehiro Tomiyasu, Maximilian Ibrahimovic and Paulo da Silva. The 31-year-old will provide interim manager Fred Grim's team with the experience Grim wanted.
Zinchenko spent the last six months on loan at Nottingham Forest, but has only appeared in five Premier League games for the Tricky Trees.
The left-back, who joined Arsenal from Manchester City in 2022, has played 150 Premier League games in his career and knows the Eredivisie well from his season-long loan at PSV during the 2016/17 season.