Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi is Unai Emery’s first project

Arsenal came with a lot of pieces already in play for Unai Emery, but going into the future, Matteo Guendouzi is going to be his wild card.

Arsenal’s eventual transfer window thus far has give Unai Emery the resources he needs to succeed in the here and now. A lot of those pieces were already in place thanks in part to the transfer team that is building this club.

Going back to last summer, Arsene Wenger’s role with the club had been chipped away at a bit, with Ivan Gazidis and his growing gang of officials taking charge of transfers.

This change gave us a ton of players that looked like straight impossibilities – namely Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And it gave us the hope for many more to come, when the club turns things around and gets back to their winning ways.

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Emery’s first summer has given him a lot, as mentioned, but in terms of moving towards the future, he has gotten another first – his first young, wild card signing – Matteo Guendouzi.

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Wenger was known for his penchant for picking out young players that he hoped would shape a future of the club and a lot of them are coming to fruition now or fading away. Whichever it is, as long as it’s clear and conclusive, then it all works out.

For Emery, Guendouzi represents something bigger. He is Emery’s first youth product. Even if he goes straight into the first team, his age alone, and the lack of guarantees attached to him, make him a long-term project.

It’s nice to think of Emery as having secured his first long-term project. It gives the belief that he will be here awhile, which constitutes some degree of success, and he will have a huge part to play in the development of this young French midfielder.

Developing young players is such a crucial piece of what this club tries to do, to “give youth a chance” as they say time and again, so Guendouzi is their first chance to build on that post-Wenger.

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Of course, Lucas Torreira is too, but he has a bit more attached to him than just a hopeful future prospect. It’s Guendouzi that’s the project, the youngster, the standard-bearer for Emery’s ability to develop his choice young players.