Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Arsenal fullback, has revealed that he proposed to his wife, Vlada Zinchenko, in his boxers at 4am. Speaking to FootballersLives, the 26-year-old admitted that the proposal was “the worst proposal ever” and “so shameful”. Despite the embarrassing circumstances, Vlada said yes and the couple are now happily married.
Vlada works as a broadcast journalist and has interviewed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as occasionally reporting on Zinchenko’s games. In fact, it was during an interview that Zinchenko had planned to propose. The couple had a game against Portugal at home, and Zinchenko wanted to ask Vlada’s boss to call him for an interview so that he could propose during it. However, he realised that he needed to ask her parents’ permission first, and struggled to find the time to do so.
In the end, Zinchenko proposed at 4am in Vlada’s apartment, wearing just his boxers. Despite the less-than-romantic circumstances, Vlada said yes. Zinchenko later made up for his initial mistake by proposing again in front of the 70,000 seat Olympic stadium in Kyiv.
The couple now have a daughter who was born in 2021. On the pitch, things are going well for Zinchenko too – Arsenal are currently top of the Premier League, eight points clear of his old club Man City.