Nottingham Forest Stuns Football World With Shock Arsenal Defender Raid

Nottingham Forest emerged as surprise suitors in the closing moments of transfer deadline day to secure a deal for Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Long after the 7 p.m. cutoff, Forest struck an agreement with Arsenal to bring Zinchenko in on a season-long loan arrangement, according to The Athletic. The Ukrainian defender is in his final contract year with the Gunners and had fallen outside of Mikel Arteta's future plans.

Forest had been pursuing a potential last-minute swoop for Atlético Madrid's Javi Galan. But when that deal fell through at the eleventh hour, Forest swiftly changed direction to secure an alternative. Zinchenko, who had lost favor under Arteta, provided the solution to Forest's search for left-back reinforcement.

Forest managed to complete Zinchenko's signing beyond the official deadline by submitting paperwork that granted them additional time to finalize the transaction.

Zinchenko had been a consistent presence for Arsenal during his initial two campaigns following his 2022 summer arrival. But fitness issues began to hamper his Emirates career. Subsequently, with Myles Lewis-Skelly's emergence, Ricardo Calafiori's arrival last season, and Jurrien Timber's adaptability, Zinchenko found playing time increasingly scarce at Arsenal.

During the summer, Zinchenko confessed that 2024–25 represented his most challenging professional campaign, featuring in only 23 matches with fewer than 1,000 minutes across all competitions for Arsenal.

Across the opening three fixtures this season, Zinchenko has been omitted from Arteta's matchday selections. His Arsenal chapter was clearly concluding, with the club simply needing to locate a destination. Eventually, Nottingham Forest and former Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar made the decisive move to acquire the surplus left-back.

Ironically, Zinchenko may debut for Forest when they visit Arsenal at Emirates Stadium following the upcoming international window.