Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko said several of his teammates laughed when he said the club could win the Premier League title at the start of the season, but that the squad has now begun to believe it is possible.
After four league titles with the defending champions, the Ukraine international moved from Manchester City to Arsenal before the start of the current campaign.
Zinchenko has been crucial to Arsenal’s winning run with his calm presence at the back and flexibility in attack.
Mikel Arteta’s side’s 3-2 victory over Manchester United on Sunday moved them five points clear of City at the top of the standings, with a game in hand.
“To be honest, when I had just arrived, the quality I saw … obviously I knew the Arsenal team, I knew all of them before, but still I realised on the pitch we have everything to achieve big things,” Zinchenko told Premier League TV.
“I started to speak in the dressing room, saying: ‘Guys, forget top three or whatever, we need to think about the title.’
“Some of them were laughing but no one is laughing now and all of us are dreaming.
Zinchenko “When I arrived I told the lads, we won’t think about the top 3 of whatever, we go for the title. Some of them started laughing but now they start to believe” pic.twitter.com/Woa4UJ8UCi
— Arsenal Guns (@TheArsenalGuns) January 22, 2023
“But still there’s a lot of games to play and now you can see [Manchester] United is back. City, as always, is there. Let’s see what is going to happen, but we need to move step by step.”
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Arteta’s side will next turn their attention to the FA Cup where they take on Zinchenko’s former club City in a fourth-round clash at the Etihad Stadium on Friday.
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