A former Manchester City defender has said the club kept him on an ‘academy contract’ during his first three seasons at the Etihad, despite being part of a side that won back-to-back league championships.
The player, who joined City in 2016, said he did not earn ‘full professional money’ until he had played 43 games in the Premier League, having been advised by City’s legal team it would happen as soon as he broke into the first team.
In fact, he was on the same kind of contract budding academy talent would be on, and paid a fraction of the wages team-mates at the time, such as Kyle Walker, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, would’ve earned.
The Independent reports it wasn’t until after City had won the 2018-19 domestic treble did the then-22-year-old receive a full professional contract.
Oleksandr Zinchenko would go on to make another 33 league appearances for City, however, before leaving to join Arsenal in 2022.
A former Manchester City pro has shared that he was kept on ‘academy wages’ for three years
This is despite Oleksandr Zinchenko playing in a team that won back-to-back league titles
Zinchenko, 27, signed for the Manchester club in 2016 and spent nearly six years at the Etihad
Recounting his initial experiences when signing for the Manchester club in new book ‘Believe’, Zinchenko writes: ‘The City lawyers said: “Look, this is an academy player contract, right? As soon as you make your first official game for City, we’re going to extend your contract with the real money that we pay full professionals. Not this academy player deal. So trust us.” Of course I said yes. Follow the dream.
‘But do you know when my next contract came? The one that put me on full professional money? After I had played 43 games in the Premier League! I won two Premier League titles playing on an academy contract.’
Zinchenko also recalls the one and only time he hit out at manager Pep Guardiola, after a testy exchange on the training pitch.
‘Out loud I said: “Mister! Like, I just did one wrong pass, you know?” And his reaction was incredible,’ Zinchenko writes in his book.
‘”Oh, OK, sorry, sorry, Mr Zinchenko. Sorry,” said Pep. “OK, guys, thank you, everyone inside.” And he went in, walked to the changing room. Training over, all because I talked back. I knew I was in trouble.’
Zinchenko was ‘benched the next game’ but later apologised to his manager.
Despite the run-in, Zinchenko and Guardiola’s relationship went from strength to strength he said, and they’ve remained in touch even after the player departed for Arsenal almost three years ago.
He formed a close relationship with City manager Pep Guardiola that exists to this day
Zinchenko left City in 2022, signing for Arsenal for a reported £30million plus add-ons
He also shared that Guardiola phoned him the night City won their famous treble in 2023, to thank him for his contribution to the team over the years.
Zinchenko was a part of the City set-up for nearly six years, having joined from Russian club Ufa in 2016 for £1.7million.
He was sent on loan to Eredivise side PSV in his first season, where he made 12 and seven appearances respectively for the Dutch club and their youth set-up, Jong PSV.
After making 128 appearances in all competitions for City, Zinchenko signed for Arsenal on a long-term contract in July 2022, for a reported fee of £30m.
