Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi a player from Emery’s own brain

Arsenal’s new era may still be limping out of the gates, but Matteo Guendouzi isn’t. He is a player that Emery can build his vision around.

When you buy a 19-year-old from Ligue 2, you probably shouldn’t be expecting much. Arsenal have dabbled in under-the-radar French league buys before and, well it’s a mixed bag. Sometimes you get Laurent Koscielny and sometimes you get Yaya Sanogo.

Matteo Guendouzi is more of the former. It should have been obvious by the transfer fee paid for him, but the Frenchman isn’t just a wonderful prospect, he is a great player in the here and now. And more than that, he is everything that Unai Emery wants. He is a teenager that his manager can have complete confidence in to deliver exactly what he needs.

Think about what Emery has been asking for out of his players. Because he asks a lot. He wants them to be active in every possible way, in each third of the field, without question, no matter who you are. He wants you to defend and attack, without hesitation.

Matteo Guendouzi does that. And he doesn’t just do that, he flies fearlessly into challenges, he tries new things, he’s always looking to innovate and the man just doesn’t quit.

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He’s young. He has growing to do. But the main things he needed to show growth in, he already is. His positional awareness has improved by leaps and bounds in the short time he’s been at the Emirates, as has his passing.

The control remains to be found. Guendouzi can still be a bit rash, and unnecessarily charge into danger. He can be a bit loose with the ball in his desire to make things happen right this moment and not a moment later.

But remember when Unai Emery spoke about this club not really being one of “control.” Well, if that’s the case, than Guendouzi already has it all covered.

Of course, we want to see more control out of him, but as it stands, everything that Guendouzi is putting forth, Emery has asked for. Everything he is still struggling with, Emery has pardoned (for now).

It’s the perfect combo, the exact right pairing for the long haul. He’s the kind of player you can build a decade around, and this is the kind of club that loves building around players for extended periods of time.

All we need now is for him to cut out the flopping.