Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has opened up about the time he was nearly sacked by Shakhtar Donetsk as a youth prospect.

The Ukrainian club were ready to let go of the left-back when he got into trouble at youth level.

He claims that it had to do with his love for the Gunners, who he eventually joined from Manchester City this past summer.

"When I was a Shakhtar academy player, I did a skills video at 14 years old for the club," Zinchenko recalled to Sky Sports.

"At the end they asked me what my dream was, and I said 'to play for Arsenal'.

"The next day, the guy came to me and said that we needed to film it again.

“The club were going to sack me, you know. He told me to say that I dream of playing for Shakhtar, not for Arsenal. It was so funny, I need to find this video somewhere."