Arsenal: So… what exactly is Matteo Guendouzi supposed to be?

Arsenal found a starlet in Matteo Guendoui, but now that he’s here, what exactly is he supposed to be? Or rather, does he have to be anything?

There’s something invigorating about Unai Emery’s seemingly smallest impact signing being a total Arsene Wenger-esque signing, and planting himself squarely in the Arsenal first team. No one knew Matteo Guendouzi until he showed up at the Emirates, but he is quickly changing that.

Throughout the course of the season, we have seen Matteo Guendouzi do many things well, all in small bursts. He defends well, attacks well, dribbles well, drives well and passes well, but he hasn’t quite been able to tie it all together at once.

For instance, in the first two matches of the season, against Manchester City and Chelsea, Guendouzi shot out to the Premier League lead in tackles. He looked like a monster, such that people wondered if he was the true capture, and Lucas Torreira was the sidekick.

Those massive defensive numbers haven’t carried on. But his passing has improved drastically, as he has started to learn to spray the long ball, similar to Granit Xhaka, spreading the pitch and creating space in that way.

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But then, he also has that quick, driving step from deep that can push a counter-attack forward. Don’t forget about that. It’s very Jack Wilshere-esque, that ability to get forward with the ball, play an Alex Iwobi-like directness without any fancy footwork, similar to Sead Kolasinac.

His positioning has improved, so he’s gone from a Shkodran Mustafi to a Laurent Koscielny, more aware of where he needs to be and knowing how to stay at home.

The only thing he hasn’t really done yet is shown a proficiency for goal creation, but his passing will notching him assists going forward and with enough practice, goals won’t be so foreign either.

Suffice to say, Guendouzi has a lot of things going for him. But that’s my question – with him able to do so many things good, what will be his go-to thing? Does he have his fallback, his foundational play style? At first I thought it was his defensive work, but that was quickly overshadowed by his passing from deep, but his driving runs are to die for.

In the end, with how early it is in his tenure, I think it’s awesome that we can’t conclusively answer what he’s supposed to be, because that gives us more time to decide if he even needs to pick, or if he can be one of those rare guys that does it all.