According to French publication La Provence, Marseille could make a move for Matteo Guendouzi this summer.
The 22-year-old Frenchman, who is currently on loan at Hertha Berlin, is set to return to London at the end of the season to discuss his future with Edu and Mikel Arteta.
Having fallen out of favour at the tail-end of last season following a string of disciplinary issues, all indications suggest he will be told to look for a new club.
Guendouzi’s current Arsenal contract ends in June 2022 so if we’re going to make a profit on our £7.2 million outlay – paid to Lorient in 2018 – now is certainly the time.
The midfielder has enjoyed a fruitful spell in Germany. He’s scored twice and made three assists in 24 Bundesliga appearances and was recently made captain of the France under-21s.
Unfortunately, he’s currently sidelined with a metatarsal injury that threatens his participation in the closing stages of this summer’s Under-21 European Championships in Hungary and Slovenia.
It seems unlikely that Guendouzi will put up a fight if he’s told he’s surplus to requirements at the Emirates – it would hardly come as a surprise – and the prospect of playing for Marseille, who are set to lose Boubacar Kamara, could well be tempting.
Sell him to Emery!
🤣🤣🤣
I think he will stick around. Half a season binned to the u23s loaned out in January to save little of what’s left and he can chose where to go as a free agent. Wenger predicted this shit storm even though he was part of it by handing players more wages than their worth.
With the brokenness from the pandemic I struggle to see Marseille pay a decent fee and whatever pay cut they would suggest
Unai will probably turn him around and do better than what we are achieving currently.;)
Yes. Please.
I still think the guy will be a class player.
Shame he is such a stroppy sod.
Anything more than £15 million we should definitely take and reinvest.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/nbpppp/scout_report_central_midfield/
Having a look at this Fbref comparison. Which of the final set of midfielders would you invest the £15 million in
Enjoyed reading that piece…
A couple of things apparent:
1) Wish we had gone for Bruno Guimaraes when we were linked with him before his Lyon move
2) Bennacer is the one that got away
Few names I wasn’t familiar with there. But no surprise Camavinga was in there. What a player he is, and will be.
i’ve liked the look of bissouma for a long time. would be an upgrade on elneny as a partner for partey. great attitude. never injured. already bossing it in the league in a much weaker team. if we could get him for not silly money i think that would be huge.
I agree. I think he’s a fantastic player and the exact sort of age profile we want.
He’s actually got a decent long range shot on him too… so hopefully he’ll take that responsibility away from Partey
Now he’s going to be injury plagued. Damn!
Camavinga is going to be an absolute star.
I think we’d be pleased with £15 million especially with only a year on his contract but, hopefully, we can get a reasonable price.
yup. i worry we will really regret letting him go. it’s his attitude i like more than anything. he bosses the midfield when he is in there in a way very few players do, especially ones so young. definitely not the finished article but he could be immense if he gets his head straight and improves.
having said that, i felt the same way about bendtner for a very long time and that didn’t really work out.
I think we should pay them whatever they want to let this petulent little tart go and never sully the doorstep of The Arsenal ever again.
Gifted but flawed.
That’s a bit harsh on Arteta.
Can you back your statement wuth clear examples of things he did?
Not playing a striker in the most important game of our season, making it not a very gud ebening
the only evidence that is not hearsay and training ground whispers is what he did to maupay that day. maupay is a toerag. i actually enjoyed seeing an arsenal player doing that for once.
haven’t seen anything reliable on what went down between him and arteta but the response from the manager seems very heavy handed from the outside.
His rugby tackle to stop a counter attack in a match. He received a yellow card for that. That is the sort of commitment we have lacked. But it comes with certain character, you cannot get that from players raised in posh areas. It comes from street fighters, you want those characters on the field but want gentlemen immediately after the game. Unfortunately not an easy package to get.
He’s not little.
He is a great talent..Marseille will challenge for the title with him in the team. I would say if they pay £25million for him, it will be a bargain. Go for it Marseille, go for it.
With Willian and Guendouzi, Marseille would win the Champions League within 3 seasons. Guaranteed. Throw in Runnarsson and it might just be a clean sweep of all domestic silverware next season too. Bargains indeed.
I’d be staggered if we got £25 million this summer. With a year on his contract remaining, if they wait until this December they can enter into a pre-contract agreement with him and get him for nothing in summer 2022. Given his reputation for being “difficult”, there’s not likely to be a long queue forming for his services, talented though he is.
FFS! Don’t tell them that, we’re trying to talk the bloody price up here!
Forget Özil, Martinez, the out of form Aubameyang, lack of playing time for talented youngsters and the inexperienced Arteta. Guendouzi is the reason we’ve underperformed this season. With him we would have smashed it out of the park!
Not sure I agree with that but he’d provided better backup than Elneny and Ceballos. Like it or not, Arteta will be here at the start of next season so there’s no future for Guendouzi at Arsenal.
What did he actually do in Berlin to warrant such opinion? He did not light the place up, did he. They’re just about to avoid the drop.
I think Elneny with all his limitations provides better backup.
What people like about Guendouzi is he was one of the few players we had the past couple of seasons who would actually take responsibility – he would show for the ball and attempt to move it forward. That was a really big deal when most players under Emery either didn’t want it or simply go backwards under Arteta.
That said pretty clear Arteta doesn’t like him.
Willock does that well and can score more goals. Doozie will be sold because of Willock.
willock doesn’t do that well. he scores goals but his general game is bang average. guendouzi much more of a defensive shield who moves the ball quickly and progressively. i’d love to know what went down between him and arteta.
Guendouzi as a defensive shield is definitely a matter of distance making the heart grow fonder.
He didn’t have the positional discipline to rely on and got caught out too much for my liking. Then the arms would go up and the mouth started flapping.
Truth! He was a huge reason we were terrible defensively. No goals and 1 assist in 56 EPL games is hardly stuff we need to keep around, especially with that attitude.
You people actually thought I was being serious? More fool you then.
He can fuck off and make sure he fetches a decent price as he does so.
What he did in Berlin? Went to Berghain Perpahs. Probably got turned on to some Neubauten, got chonged up in Treptower Park and the rest was Ostalgie until he got banjaxed.
Hope we can sell him anyway.
Could someone translate the above please? ^^^
Neubauten probably refers to the band Einstürzende Neubauten. Banjaxed is injured. The rest? I got nothing?
Well done. The rest, Treptower Park is a Soviet war monument of mind-blowing proportions. A must see. A place to do drugs in if I was ever in the position to indulge again. Ostalgie refers to nostalgia for the GDR days. Not the regime necessarily but the culture etc. Lots of good music to be had from that time.
I forgot to mention Ellen Alien. Great techno artist from Berlin.
Nope, he won’t be here. We fans always say the Kroenke see the club as a business. This is exactly why they will get rid of Arteta. No income from european competitions. Fans are not excited to by merchandise. It seems the Kroenke know how to count money. The day following the end of the season, Arteta will be sacked.
Gendouzi + some change for Kamara? 🤷🏽♂️
Why are people here so reluctant on second chance Gendouzi? Honest question. Personally I think it’s a shame he’s just 1 year left on his contract, even tho Berlin did shit I would like to see how he personally developed and what he might bring to this squad. Isn’t that what’s always said about the youth team ‘it’s not about titles but how players develop individiually’, something in them terms. He’s different then any other cm we have, young mobile strong technical and potentially (I emphasise potentially) a top tier player. France has a lot of good youngsters and he’s… Read more »
Agreed but it’s all academic. The manager doesn’t want him and isn’t capable of managing him.
Who is the manager? We’re talking about July and August transfer deals.
Likely to be the same one as now, but you never know in football.
Given reports from Hertha Berlin, they’re not too happy with him either.
Neither were Lorient before us, if I recall correctly.
Personally think that he flattered to deceive (but im sure that’s partly my bias against him, I didnt particularly like him from the beginning).
At a time when we were desperate for someone to show some character and take the reins, he did that. I just dont think he ever really produced anything.
And there’s a difference between a smart nasty player (Fernandinho being the king of this) and someone who just pissed everyone off. Guendouzi very much the latter I think.
“Gotta love Guendouzi. Can play good or not so good but always shows up in difficult moments at such a young age.” Cesc Fabregas
Completely agree. I don’t remember much apart from winning some important free kicks (with some oportunistic running toward opponents) in the end of some games.
I remember him dragging us back into games against Spurs and Villa and winning Player of the Month in September 2019
I also remember him trying but failing to win many more free kicks, right in front of our defense. Sitting on the ground gesturing while he left our CBs exposed.
I dont think he done bad on the pitch. Like you say there wore plenty of times he took the reins, but he was young then and still is. maybe what was missing was some training/playing elsewhere to add quality and experience for him ‘taking the rein’. He’s def not an Elneny type side pass player. And to compare him to fernadinho who could basically be his dad age wise is dumb. Plus he doesn’t produce either, but he ‘adds’ and other like Phoden, Mahrez produce. Where was Fernadinho at Gendouzi age? Anyway, I say keep. If it don’t work… Read more »
He was better as a player than Arteta has been as a manager
i remember the way game against united in particular. united midfielders were more interested in kicking guendouzi than playing their own game. that’s a special kind of talent in my book.
Guendouzi always annoyed me as a player. Constantly throwing himself to the floor to win free kicks when the better option was to stay on his feet and challenge for the ball.
And he is a pointer. One of those annoying players who’s always pointing at others round the pitch telling them (badly) where to pass it or where to run, nonsensically. It’s a personal pet hate of mine.
That and the ridiculous barnet.
And the attitude.
Other than that, he was great!
I guess the clubs that are interested in taking him off of our hands tells you all you need to know. Sell him, move on.
I’d be more inclined to judge him by what I saw from him, then by the clubs that’s supposedly after him. But hey, I don’t know! It’s just my opinion. He might turn out to be complete shit or might go somewhere mid table, shine, transfer to a top club and win the domestic and Champions League. Lot of potential in the kid, maybe Per should had a good 1on1 with him.
Your opinion is quite valid and I respect it and you might be right from an ability perspective and initially he did ok, but you only need one disruptive character in the dressing room to poison the atmosphere and I just the feeling that it’s all about him and not the team, just my opinion you see. 👍🏼
Yes. Like a more annoying, less talented Nasri.
I liked him, he has shortcomings as a player but he’s young and was playing in a really difficult season. Then he taunted Maupay about his wages and I thought to myself “what a cunt, he won’t go far” and now I don’t really care much what happens to him as long as we get some money for him.
Have you seen the head on Maupay and also what he did to Leno, we need players like him to stand up to idiots like Maupay, if it was Viera we would be lauding him. I say give him another chance.
Vieira would never taunt someone for making less money, this is the point being put forth.
have you ever watched maupay? he is constant verbals and niggle. i’m not surprised guendouzi had a go at him. he will learn to control that. remember this? https://youtu.be/5UEd2Q-6Qt4?t=116
Just off ropic; from today’s blog re. Willock. League Cup and the Europa League group stage, where he managed to score three goals. ‘In a counterattacking team, Willock has thrived with a series of important goals that have steered the Magpies away from relegation’ ‘With his technical shortcomings, it is difficult to see how Arsenal could integrate Willock alongside players like Pepe and Martinelli who, like Willock, are not always technically clean but are efficient in the penalty area’. I found it bit confusing because despite of the above it’s implied in the blog he should be sold, when in… Read more »
Keep
People are been too harsh on willock. With a little more patience willock can and will develop into a stellar box to box midfielder. Some players just need a bit more time to clean up the technical side of things. In terms of raw natural all round ability he is the most gifted midfield we have. Time and patient is the key for him. You can already see his attitude is right and you can see the drive in his game. Keep and develop! Still only 21. Never know if we fail to get the players we want he might… Read more »
Technically he’s not on ESR level, more Martinelli in term of rawness I think. The boy can play, he’s not technically unfit. also has a ton of experience by now. He was already scoring goals and in half a season scored more the ones still the club, as a midfielder. Man could we have used some of them goals!! He’s getting taller and stronger, and I definetly wouldn’t sell him. Yet.
I guess it all depends on the business we do, the players we move on and those that we sign, I’d like to see him stay, I’ve always liked him despite the rough edges.
If we can get him to shore up a little bit more defensive contribution as a box to box, and a little more sharpness on his passing combinations, he could be very effective, and could be a great complement to Partey depending on the overall strategy.
He’s got the most Ramsey-esque late runs and box game of anyone at the club. Although ESR’s was great v Chelsea.
That would mean Arteta tweaking his tactics to be less possession based. Which I don’t see happening but something I welcome full-heartedly. The man keeps trying to make us play like City when we clearly don’t have the required personnel. There are games when a counter attacking approach would’ve bode better.
You said it, we have the personnel to play counter attacking football. Martinelli, Pepe, Aubameyang is a lot of pace in the final third. Xhaka, Partey, Mari all able to play good long balls as well.
Elneny, Ceballos or Guendouzi. I’ll take Guendouzi any day
When you put it like that, I’d agree. But for Level 2, Guendouzi vs Willock… Joe all day.
I’ve a bad feeling Arteta and Edu may try and sign Ceballos on a permanent transfer if Madrid’s price is low enough as it’s an easy solution.
Though what chance Torreira can be integrated back into the squad? It worked for Elneny after a loan in Turkey.
Torreira doesn’t seem to want that. Going to be an interesting summer. Xhaka rumoured to want out too. That leaves Partey, and Azeez as 4th or 5th choice midfielder then Elneny, AMN, Guendouzi, Torreira, Xhaka, Willock. The 3 spots between Partey & Azeez come down to who can be moved on & who Arteta wants to keep.
If Partey and Azeez are 4th and 5th, who’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd?
That’s Partey as 1st choice and Azeez as 4th/5th. The other 3 come from the others listed or new signings
Ah gotcha!
I agree, if Partey is fit, he plays. Same as Xhaka and while there’s a rumour about him wanting out, Arteta loves him so he may stay. The rest is conjecture. I think Azeez will go on loan if anything so I think it’s now out of Elneny, Willock and AMN (with Ceballos – hopefully – fucking off back to Spain). My money would be on Partey, Xhaka, Willock and Elneny.
So Partey, Xhaka, Willock and Elneny instead of this season’s Partey, Xhaka, Ceballos and Elneny ?
Honestly, if that’s our sole midfield upgrade in the summer we may just give up. Midfield needs a massive overhaul, more than any other area of the team.
This is based on the players we have without taking into account who might come in because, without understanding who’s available and how much money the club will have, that could be anyone.
Personally, I would like Partey, Willock and two others (Willock not necessarily being second but definitely involved). With changes needed across the board, can we manage such wholesale changes to the midfield? Who knows…
If I remember correctly, Arsenal doesn’t want to sign him long-term and Ceballos wants to go back to Spain.
whew
Yes, but you could have named any bang average players and have that work.
I tried to use Willian as an example, but couldn’t think of two worse players I’d rather have him than. Let me come back to you…
Ignoring attitude issues, the problem with Guendouzi is that he plays with the positional freedom of someone who should be the creative hub of the team and/or a big goal threat from midfield Players like Bruno Fernandes, Modric, Fabregas, Ramsey justify their positional freedom with what they contribute in terms of chance creation, goals and assists. Guendouzi roams all over the place but barely creates, and never really even gets into positions where scoring is a possibility. The other players mentioned all showed talent for goalscoring and chance creation right from the off. Right now he hangs his midfield partner… Read more »
Brilliant young player, I’d be surprised if there was a decent market for him
French under 21 captain, 80+ games for Arsenal, always takes responsibility on the pitch
If he matures away from the pitch, I can see him developing into some player on it
Let’s hope we can (a) sell him and (b) get a reasonable price, although our seeming inability to stop contracts running down to their final year may well reduce what we can get for him (in addition to his reputation for being somewhat “difficult”). Anyway, let’s see.
More important, any truth to the rumours about Willian wanting to leave? That would be awesome if true.
Not so sure about this one…
Sell.
But make sure we mint money.
Thus far we have been poor which is an understatement.
A great player. We need someone with his qualities with the impending departure of Ceballos, Odegaard, possibly xhaka and elneny. As a double-pivot 8, I think Guendouzi and ESR is an exciting combo.
Sell him. He has a terrible attitude. He will always have a poor attitude because he believes his own hype. Having a child will not change his bad attitude. Promote Azeez and sell Guenwanker
Selling him is not the solution. Try to get the best out of him. Bendtner was a nutcase and still we were able to get something out of him. This guy shows alot of fire and fight. Why not mould him into something useful. He has problem with attitude but that does not mean he has not got talent. He has been made French U21 Captain.
Too bad we couldn’t refine his behavior…rough diamonds…