OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO came close to having his leg AMPUTATED as a teenager due to frostbite.
The Arsenal full-back, 27, made his name at Manchester City from 2016 to 2022, winning four Prem titles, four Carabao Cups and one FA Cup.
He has also gone on to captain Ukraine at major tournaments and recently helped the Gunners become top-flight title challengers once more under Mikel Arteta.
But at the age of 17, his entire life could have changed thanks to a dry ice incident that left the defender with a gangrenous foot and moments away from amputation.
It came about following a call from German club Hoffenheim to attend a trial, having been frozen out of the Shakhtar Donetsk academy and trying to reignite his career while taking part in the Russian street leagues.
He explained: “The day before I was due to fly [to Germany], FC Meteor, one of the non-league clubs I played for, called me. They had a big game and wanted me to fill in.
“These leagues were a bit rogue, sometimes more like a cage fight. Some opponent did a crazy tackle on me and caught my right ankle. It swelled up like a balloon.
“There was no way I could play the next day in Germany. Just walking was causing me pain. I was in no state to do a trial. But I couldn’t cancel and lose this life-changing opportunity.
“We decided I would go anyway and ask them to let me train a couple of days later, by which time the swelling would have hopefully gone down.
“I was on the plane with Lufthansa and I remember thinking: ‘Let’s not waste time to get the swelling down. Let’s use the flight.’ So, I asked the stewardess for some ice for my ankle.
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“She didn’t understand me at first because my English wasn’t great and I didn’t speak any German. But she came over with what looked like ice in a plastic package.
“I wrapped it up, put it on my ankle and went to sleep. Problem solved. An hour or so later, I woke up and expected to see a bag full of melted water. But there was none.
“Then I looked at my ankle. All the skin had turned white. I put my sock back on
and, within around 20 minutes, as it warmed up, it started to blister.
“When we arrived in Frankfurt, an associate of my agent was waiting. ‘I have a little problem,’ I told him. I think I gave him the shock of his life when I showed him my ankle.
“We drove to the Hoffenheim academy, taken immediately to a physio, who pulled down my sock and turned nearly as white as the skin on my ankle when he saw it.
“His reaction told me this was bad. ‘We’re taking you to hospital, right now.’ I was rushed into an operating theatre and surgery commenced immediately.
“They were removing gangrenous tissue. If that had spread, it could have affected the whole foot, requiring it all to be removed. The reason? I had frostbite.
“It turned out that when the air stewardess gave me ice, it was dry ice, which is three times colder than normal ice, exposing my bare ankle to Arctic-like temperatures.
“The German doctor looked at me gravely. ‘You are fortunate. You came at the right time. Any later, and you might have lost your leg.’
“Only then did I realise quite how close my dreams had come to ending and my life changing utterly.”
After his near-death experience and a spell in the Russian Premier League, Zinchenko spent six seasons at City before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2022 for £35m.
However, Zinchenko has also revealed he could have played for the North Londoners much sooner with Arsene Wenger keeping tabs on his situation back in 2014 following a Youth Champions League clash between Arsenal and Shakhtar.
Zinchenko said: “I got a call from an agent who said: ‘Alex, I have a very good connection with Arsene Wenger. He called me after your game. He really wants to see you in the club.
“I was speechless; my jaw was on the floor. When I gathered my thoughts after a few seconds, I said: ‘This is probably a joke. Someone is having a laugh here.’
“For one reason or another, it never happened. I had sort of forgotten about this whole thing until Wenger came to the Emirates in December 2022 to watch us beat West Ham 3-1.
“I shook his hand. I had never met him in person before… ‘Mister, eight years ago, I played for Shakhtar Donetsk in a Youth League game against Arsenal…’ I said, cautiously.
“He interrupted me. ‘Yes, it was at Boreham Wood. Arsenal won 3-1. And after 20 minutes, I pointed at you and said: “I need this guy.”‘ It was all true. Incredible.
“I sometimes imagine what would have happened if I had joined the first team as a 17-year-old.”
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