Forest Mull Early Zinchenko Exit as Loan Spell Stalls
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Fatima Saif
- . January 16, 2026
- . Update: January 16, 2026 5:13 pm
Nottingham Forest is toying with the idea of terminating a season-long loan of Oleksandr Zinchenko by Arsenal, who is proving to be unable to settle in at the City Ground. The Ukraine international has only played four Premier League matches on deadline day in the summer, thus restricting his contribution in the first half of the season.
It is also known that Forest is investigating options this month, and that Zinchenko is spending less than an hour a day on the phone, which is making the company discuss internally. Nevertheless, an early payoff is hardly easy to come by. According to the sources, there is no break clause on the loan agreement, which implies that Forest would require the support of Arsenal to cancel the deal earlier than it was scheduled.
That may turn out to be a problem. Arsenal already possesses a complete team, and they might not like incorporating Zinchenko halfway through the season, absent a definite route into the playing team. Consequently, although Forest has a genuine interest in terminating the loan, there are still some practical challenges that can ensure Zinchenko spends his time in the City Ground to the very end of this season.
