Oleksandr Zinchenko had a Nottingham Forest debut to forget on Wednesday as the Arsenalloanee's new side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup.
The 28-year-old was surplus to requirements at Emirates Stadium and secured a loan move to Nottingham Forest on transfer deadline day. football.london understands that despite the player being in the final year of his contract, the Gunners will benefit from a loan fee and his wages being covered, although it's unclear if Forest are covering 100% of his wages.
Zinchenko was ineligible to play against Arsenal last Saturday but did make his Forest debut under Ange Postecoglou on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup. Starting at left-back against Championship side Swansea, the Ukrainian watched his new team race into a 2-0 lead at half-time.
Nottingham Forest conceded three second half goals, however, with two of those coming in stoppage time. Zinchenko played the full match so did get valuable minutes in the tank but was helpless as he watched his new side exit the cup competition.
"We had to finish them off and we had plenty of opportunities to do that, and a couple of decisions didn't go our way," Postecoglou said after the 3-2 defeat. "I think the lads got a bit comfortable in that moment and you've got to know the warning signs.
"Players just thought it would naturally finish that way and we've paid a heavy price for that. We need to improve."
For Zinchenko, he will now be hoping to play a part on Saturday when Forest travel to Burnley. They are then in Europa League action against Real Betis before welcoming Sunderland to the City Ground next Saturday.
Zinchenko managed only 15 league outings for Arsenal last season, starting merely five of those matches. He slipped down the hierarchy at left-back following the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori and the breakthrough of Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Taking to Instagram after making his debut for Forest, the full-back said: "Not the result we wanted, but still so proud to make my debut and become the first Ukrainian to play for this amazing club. Let’s show the right reaction from the next one!"
