“An unbelievable player” – Oleksandr Zinchenko compares Arsenal teammate to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Arsenal fullback Oleksandr Zinchenko compared teammate Bukayo Saka to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The Ukrainian ace claimed that the youngster deserves the same amount of protection from the referees that the legendary duo receive.

Saka has been quite magnificent for the Gunners so far this season. He has scored 10 goals and has provided eight assists in 31 matches across competitions.

The Englishman has often been on the receiving end of fouls from opponents as they look to negate this threat. Hence, Zinchenko believes that Saka deserves more protection.

He recently said:

"Bukayo is an unbelievable player, all the full backs from the other teams know he’s so dangerous, so they try to provoke him, tackle him and the referees should know this."

He further added:

"We can speak about Messi, Cristiano, Neymar and players like this. The referees need to protect this kind of player. Apart from Bukayo, we have other front players who are so dangerous and the referees need to be careful, they need to look after them of course."

Much like Saka, Ronaldo and Messi used to and still face hostile challenges from opponents on the pitch throughout their careers.

Zinchenko, meanwhile, scored his first goal in the English top flight during the Gunners' 4-2 win against Aston Villa. While the occasion marked a special personal landmark for the Ukrainian, he wasn't happy with the team's performance against Villa. Zincheno said:

"To be honest, the performance in the first half wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t happy at all but in the second half I’m happy to help my team with the goal, but my priority was always three points. The quality is there but we can’t stop, there are a lot of things to improve but if we work hard to improve ourselves then we are on the right track."

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How have Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo been performing lately?

FC Barcelona v Juventus: Group G - UEFA Champions League

Both Messi and Ronaldo proved to be crucial players for their club sides on the latest matchday.

The Portuguese legend bagged a brace of assists to help Al-Nassr secure a 2-1 win against Al-Taawoun.

The Argentine, meanwhile, scored a last-ditch free-kick goal to help Paris Saint-Germain earn a 4-3 Ligue 1 win over LOSC Lille.

Despite being past their mid-30s, both superstars remain world beaters and are crucial to their teams' success.