When Arsenal decided to buy Mattéo Guendouzi from Lorient, it was clear their scouts had done their due diligence on the midfielder.
The youngster had impressed with the French side, and he immediately played a role under Unai Emery, who took a liking to the player when he was in charge of the Gunners.
A lot changed after the Spaniard left, however, and the decision to replace him with Mikel Arteta, which has proven wise, did damage Guendouzi’s chances at Arsenal.
Some of it was somewhat self-inflicted too, as an altercation with Neal Maupay led to him being dropped and eventually to a loan to Hertha BSC.
When he returned, the player was once again sent away from Arsenal, ending up at Marseille, who eventually made the move permanent.
This is a decision that has paid off for all involved, as the midfielder is now with the France squad in Qatar and expected to play a decent role in Didier Deschamps’ plans during the tournament.
Still, leaving Arsenal wasn’t the easiest for the player, who is proud to have featured for such a prestigious club at a young age.
He told GQ in France: “It was hard to leave Arsenal because I had a special connection to that club, like a lot of young French player who saw Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and many others go through there. I never cheated, I always tried to give the best of myself for the club and the fans. But I no longer had the game time I wanted and when you’re young, you need to play a lot of games.”
