The Arsenal decision 'stubborn' Matteo Guendouzi will regret making after Mikel Arteta talks
Exclusive: Former Arsenal star Jeremie Aliadiere, once a team-mate of Guendouzi, reflects on how the youngster has damaged his position at the Emirates
It was his charisma, confidence and competitiveness that first attracted Arsenal to Matteo Guendouzi so it is perhaps appropriate that those great virtues have become the flaws that could spell the end of his time at the club.
Exiled for a fortnight since the Brighton game there is no sign of rapprochement between Guendouzi and Mikel Arteta. Those holding out hope for a thawing of the tensions that have convinced Arsenal to consider offers for the youngster may well be disappointed.
According to former Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere, a team-mate of Guendouzi when he burst into the Lorient side as a teenager, the youngster is “a very stubborn guy”. A player that had his heart set on following in the footsteps of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Laurent Koscielny could depart after just two years.
“I’m sure deep inside he is disappointed if he has to leave Arsenal like this,” Aliadiere told football.london. “But from what has been said in the press he has obviously got all the top clubs after him. I’m sure he won’t end up at a smaller club.
“If he moves he’ll end up at a top club somewhere. I don’t know if he really thinks ‘I’m gutted that I might be sold by Arsenal’ or will he think ‘it’s their loss, I’m going to go to Madrid, Barcelona or Paris’.
“It’s hard. When you’re young you just don’t think of the consequences in the long term. A bad experience, a second bad experience, a third bad experience. Eventually if you have enough bad blood at clubs it will impact your career.
“That’s what I’m more concerned about for him, having all that talent, having made it at a top club so young and throwing it all away. I would be gutted for him. I saw him at 16 and thought he would become a top player.
“I know Matteo, he’s like a little brother to me. I was buzzing when he joined the club, I’m gutted to see him in that situation now, to be training on his own because of his own actions.”
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Aliadiere added: “When you’ve got a problem with one coach, with a second coach, with a third coach, I take it it might not be the coach.
“It might be something you’re doing wrong. I know he has had trouble at Lorient with two managers, before when he was a very young kid as well and now he’s having trouble with Arteta. It can’t all be the managers all the time.”
When they signed him in the summer of 2018 from the French second tier everyone at Arsenal agreed that there was something unique about Guendouzi. He is technically excellent but what stood out to Raul Sanllehi, Sven Mislintat and Unai Emery were the intangibles: his attitude, courage and even leadership. He was one of the few signings that the then head of football relations, director of recruitment and head coach all agreed on.
Aliadiere was even more glowing. As soon as he saw this fearless youngster emerge at Lorient he believed he was seeing a future captain.
He had also proven to be quite a headache for his Lorient coaches even at a young age. When head coach Bernard Casoni substituted the 17-year-old midfielder in a cup game against Nice, fearing one more rash foul would earn him a red card, Guendouzi refused to shake his hand. Another manager, Mickael Landreau, dropped him for three months over attitude difficulties.
By that time Aliadiere had moved on but had seen a flourishing prospect whose attitude problems, he felt, only needed some senior pros to iron out.
“There’s a very fine line between the right sort of arrogance, believing in your own ability and knowing what you want and being disrespectful.
“Coming to Arsenal when I did I don’t think I could have had his arrogance at the time. I would have been kicked into Row Z by Martin Keown and Tony Adams!
“He had that attitude, that belief in himself but there was a part of me that thought ‘this kid knows what he want’. He might be naive at times but he was only 16 at the time. You could forgive him getting frustrated.
“There were many times that a few of the boys wanted to kill him in training but I thought he’d grow out of it, that he’d meet people on the way that would teach him a lesson. Obviously at Lorient we didn’t have that kind of player who could do that.”
It would be fair to question whether Arsenal do either. Reports in France claim David Luiz was unable to bring him into line after the incident at Brighton last month where he mocked opponents about their salary. Another veteran defender, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, was involved in an incident with Guendouzi during a mid-season break in Dubai.
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It is notable how the change in Guendouzi’s behaviour appears to follow the departure of two key mentors from the club. He described himself as “very disappointed” when Koscielny returned to France having leaned heavily on the veteran centre-back when he arrived in north London.
Equally no first team player seemed to mourn Emery’s departure quite like Guendouzi. The former Arsenal boss had “made [him] grow up as a football player but also as a man.” Whether Arteta is seeing evidence of that growth is up for debate.
The 21-year-old is not alone among Arsenal’s midfield when it comes to high-profile incidents that might prompt one to question their attitude. Only nine months ago Granit Xhaka’s career seemed over when he swore at supporters who were jeering him as he was substituted during a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Arteta was able to get through to Xhaka in a way that he has so far not managed to do with Guendouzi, who football.london revealed this week has been given numerous opportunities to make amends with the head coach over two months on the sidelines.
Matteo Guendouzi and Mikel Arteta during Arsenal's game with Manchester City.
Publicly Arteta has invited Guendouzi to get “on the boat” yet despite being thrown a life buoy the tide seems to be moving Arsenal and their bright young prospect apart. That is a matter of no little frustration to Aliadiere, who sees a player giving his all on the pitch and acting questionably off it.
“The problem with Matteo is obviously deeper than a quick altercation. With what happened between Xhaka and the fans, I thought how will he ever get back from that? We all know that when the fans turn against a player it’s very difficult.
“But respect to the guy. He has kept his mouth shut, he has made his feelings heard and from that day he has thought ‘I’m going to prove you wrong, I’m going to fight and work hard and do everything I can and at the end things will change’.
“Those are the players you want. Matteo does that, don’t get me wrong. He has passion for the club, you know that every time he plays he gives 100%.
“That’s what’s sad about it. If you had a player who was not giving 100% you’d be keen to sell him. But it’s not on the pitch, it’s attitude in training, around the training ground, on camps abroad and outside games. That’s what makes it even more disappointing.”
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Therein lies Arsenal’s bind. Do they persevere with a player who has shown flashes of exceptional talent or cash in their chips now?
Certainly if Guendouzi were to depart this summer Arsenal would fetch a sizeable return for him, enough to make the £8million they paid two years ago seem like a shrewd investment. Paris Saint-Germain are understood to retain an interest in a player who came through their academy whilst there have been suggestions that the France youth international could be part of a swap deal with Atletico Madrid to secure Thomas Partey, the Gunners’ first-choice target this summer.
And yet if, for instance, a Partey-Guendouzi swap deal were to be agreed it could be that in four years time Arsenal look rather foolish for swapping the youngster for a player six years his elder.
Under Emery Guendouzi twice changed the course of Premier League games through force of will. Even when he featured under Arteta there were flashes of excellence, his running battle with Neal Maupay taking the spotlight from a quietly encouraging display at the base of midfield.
That game alone crystallises the questions around this divisive player. Is the potential worth the risk that might come if they are seen to indulge such behaviour? When Arteta is working so hard to reset the culture at north London, what role should Guendouzi play?
Aliadiere said: “Arteta will be asking himself ‘do I really want to have to deal with this every couple of months? I’ve got to find a group of players here, is this guy going to be part of that or is he just going to give me trouble?’
“That’s a tough question to ask. Is he worth that? Or is the easier solution to sell him for whatever million and buy someone new who won’t have that kind of issue?
“These aren’t problems you want to deal with in the current situation when you’re chasing the top five, you’ve got four games left. You don’t want to have to answer the press and have those conversations.
“I can understand why the easier thing feels like selling him, getting the money and moving on.”
To do so would cause no little regret for many connected to Arsenal, not least Aliadiere. He has seen first hand the talent that convinced so many that Guendouzi was destined for the top. For those who know him well the chances of him still finding that path in north London seem to be decreasing.
Sourced from football.london
