Arsenal's Zinchenko opens 'dream' restaurant in Kyiv

Video caption, Arsenal are on the right track - Zinchenko
  • Author, Simon Stone
  • Role, Chief football news reporter, in Los Angeles

Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko has refused to let the war in Ukraine spoil his dream of owning a restaurant in Kyiv.

Zinchenko and his wife Vlada opened the restaurant in Kyiv last month.

β€œIt was our dream to make something special in our home and the place we feel most comfortable, in Kiev, in Ukraine,” he said. β€œWe have been working, especially my wife, super hard to get it done.

β€œI know it is the toughest time of our independent time as a country and maybe it is not the ideal timing to start a new business but still we believe the war will finish very soon and this will be there.”

β€œA football career is too short,” he said. β€œYou don’t realise it until it is done.

β€œI am 27 and I can feel how time flies. While you are working so hard, you are earning money that you need to invest in the right way. While you are a football player, you have a lot of different things you can do to waste your money, to put it into the bin and buy a lot of different stuff.

β€œIn this case, my wife has helped me to do the right thing."

Zinchenko is part of an Arsenal squad that opens its three-match tour of the United States against fellow Premier League club Bournemouth at LA Galaxy’s Dignity Health Sports Park on Thursday (03:00 BST)