Last week, Matteo Guendouzi gave an interview to Ouest-France, where he discussed how things were going at Arsenal following his move to London from Lorient.
During said conversation, the local French newspaper enquired about his goals and ambitions, specifically on the international scene.
The 19-year-old stated it was a ‘dream’ for him to play for France, and said he was ‘going to do everything to get there one day’.
However, the midfielder is also eligible to play for Morocco, and the country’s FA are currently doing their utmost to try and convince him that choosing the north African country would be in his best interests.
According to Le Site Info, Hervé Renard, the national team’s manager, flew to London after his side beat Malawi in the AFCON qualifiers to hold a meeting with Guendouzi about the matter.
Part of his speech is said to include the fact the midfielder’s father would like his son to ‘choose Morocco instead of France’.
This isn’t the first time the Moroccan FA have tried to make the youngster switch allegiances, doing so a couple of years ago, at which point Guendouzi told them he preferred to play for France’s youth teams.
His goals don’t appear to have changed, but you can’t blame Renard and co. for trying.
Fortune favours the bold and all that.
