Arsenal star slapped with huge tax bill after losing court battle

Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko has been hit with a hefty tax bill following his loan move to Nottingham Forest. The player made the switch to the City Ground on deadline day and will remain there until the season's end, after Nottingham Forest's unsuccessful late bid for Atletico Madrid left-back Javi Galan.

Zinchenko saw limited action for Arsenal last season and is looking forward to more playing time at Forest. However, he first needs to address his tax bill, having been instructed to pay £300,000 after losing a court case. The former Manchester City defender has also received a £35,000 bill from his accountants.

The details emerged when Zinchenko put his image rights company into voluntary liquidation earlier this week, according to The Sun.

The report states the company channelled some of the player's earnings, prompting HMRC to take the organisation to court. Back in February, the court heard the case had been settled when his team agreed to pay, but the figures were not revealed, reports the Express.

Zinchenko was the sole shareholder of the company, Alex Zinchenko Image Rights, until Ukraine FA official Artemijs Rjabovs took over and renamed it Ozir Ltd. The defender reportedly earns around £150,000 per week under his Arsenal contract, which expires next summer.

Zinchenko is currently representing Ukraine on international duty and appeared in their loss to France at the weekend. He is expected to feature once more when they face Azerbaijan away on Tuesday evening.

The defender will be ineligible to make his Forest bow when the Premier League resumes later this week. They are set to meet Arsenal and Zinchenko will be prohibited from appearing against his parent club at the Emirates Stadium.

However, he could turn out in the Carabao Cup tie away to Swansea City several days afterwards, before making his maiden Premier League outing for the Reds against newly-promoted Burnley. Following his deadline day switch to Forest, Zinchenko said: "Hi guys, I'm so happy to join and so excited for the season ahead. I can't wait to meet you all there."

The full-back managed only 15 league outings for Arsenal last season, starting merely five of those matches. He slipped down the hierarchy at left-back following the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori and the breakthrough of Myles Lewis-Skelly.

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