The 21-year-old, who has filled in at left-back in a breakthrough season under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, didn’t hold back when he was interviewed about his life in England.
Zinchenko joined City from Russian club Ufa in 2016 and spent last season on loan at Eredivisie champions PSV.
When asked by Russian outlet Championat to compare his lifestyle now to his time in Holland and Ukraine, it’s very clear he’d rather not be in England.
“Here is the best football in the world, better than anywhere else. But English life … to put it mildly, it’s not for me,” he said. “The weather crushes me. Plus, in Russia or Ukraine, there are more fun things to do. English life is not for me.
“There is not enough homemade food. Once I asked to have borscht cooked for me and, of course, it didn’t taste the same [as back home].
“The people here are meaner than in the Netherlands. But I understand: the sky is grey every day and it rains constantly.
“And their sense of humour is different. They sometimes laugh at things that we wouldn’t even smile at.”
Despite all of that, the Ukraine international did say he quite likes his social life.
Zinchenko added: “I have friends in Manchester, who I meet and chat with, although most of the time I’m by myself.
“Also I am with my team-mates eight hours per day, so I like to take breaks from them!”
Apart from all of that, though, Oleksandr?
