Arsenal fans, let’s take you back to 2020, when your team were interested in Houssem Aouar and came close to signing him.
Juninho Pernambucano, who was the director of football at Lyon at the time, admitted he had spoken to Edu Gaspar about a possible transfer, with the Gunners looking to potentially include Mattéo Guendouzi into the deal.
The midfielder had fallen out with Mikel Arteta at the time, and eventually ended up on loan at Marseille, who have since bought him permanently after a successful season-long trial.
He’s continued to grow under Igor Tudor in the south of France, and Juninho, who said at the time Guendouzi wasn’t a profile they needed, appears to be regretting that decision after watching him in the Champions League against Sporting CP.
Speaking to RMC Sport, he was asked about the former Gunners man, and said: “Honestly, Guendouzi is better than I thought, because when I was director of football at OL, I had discussions about him with Edu when he was at Arsenal. I had a few doubts, but today, I would say he’s a midfielder… not complete, because he isn’t always going to score goals, but he does formidable work as a box to box.
“He loses the ball rarely. He works hard without the ball, leads by example. He’s a very important player. He didn’t play at the weekend and the team lost.”
It’s quite refreshing to see someone admit they were wrong about a footballer, and it’s fair to say Juninho has done that, perhaps even showing a bit of regret at not pulling the trigger when he had the chance.
During his time at Arsenal, Guendouzi made 82 appearances, scoring one goal and picking up five assists, before moving to Marseille, where he has seven goals and 16 assists in 69 games.
