Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi has no backward compatibility

Matteo Guendouzi is doing something really special for Arsenal, setting himself apart as one of the premier young talents to pass through in quite some time.

Arsenal have had their fair share of 19-year-old phenoms, and sooner or later, they slow, or skid, or descend into a dull rumble, hoping to latch onto some sort of boost at some point in the future to continue their development.

It happened with Alex Iwobi and you could argue it’s still happening. That initial burst onto the scene has been dulled, slowed, deadened, reinvigorated, crippled, brought back to life – up, down, up, down.

The same is true of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, though injuries and positioning have been his biggest obstacles, but still, there were times when you just never knew what he was going to be able to deliver on.

Matteo Guendouzi just isn’t like that. He has no “backward compatibility” per se. He hasn’t relapsed, or fallen into bad habits, or begun a slow descent into inability. It’s all been up, up and away.

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In his inaugural season in the toughest league in the world at a team in transition (all of which make this all even more difficult), he has never once shown a blip or a stutter step or a monumental slip up. That’s not saying that it will never come, but it’s becoming more and more difficult to picture Guendouzi ever being worse than what he is now, simply because he plays with such advanced maturity that he seems solidified in this foundation that he has established.

There is something special in knowing that every time a young man like Matteo Guendouzi takes the pitch, we are going to see improvement. And I mean actual, tangible improvement, not just in the statistics, but in the way he plays the game itself.

Guendouzi is learning new facets of the game every time he goes out there and all it’s doing is raising his ceiling higher and higher. Maybe it’s naive of me, but I don’t see any risk involved in putting more and more faith in him. The way he’s learning to navigate the midfield, both with and without the ball (though mostly with, because he always has it) is illusive and intelligent, but doesn’t shy away from the physical either.

Guendouzi took some time out of the starting XI in recent matches, with Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey holding down the spots, but upon his reintroduction, not only had he not missed a beat, but he seemed to have gained a few as well.

It’s special, what he’s doing. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been excited (in a non-dreading kind of way) every single time a 19-year-old touches the ball. I just know he is going to be smart with it.