Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi gives significant gambling credit

Arsenal are being backed to “gamble” on the signing of Alexis Claude-Maurice, but after Matteo Guendouzi, I’m just fine with any gambles.

Arsenal paid for four signings last summer. No doubt they needed many more, and that is what they are dealing with this summer, but last summer, they only spent money for four guys. And beyond a doubt, the biggest stretch was for Matteo Guendouzi.

The leap from Ligue 2 to the Premier League is one hell of a leap, especially for a teenager, but Guendouzi went straight into the starting XI and showed himself to be one of the most exciting young players in the world. So exciting, in fact, that just six months into his tenure at the Emirates, he was linked to a £60m move to PSG.

The leaps just kept coming, and all because the Gunners “gambled” on this young man and forked out a decent amount of money on his services. Not much was expected of him, but he delivered on those minor expectations tenfold.

This summer, they are being linked to Alexis Claude-Maurice, a player that is similarly being referred to as a “gamble.”

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Conveniently, he also suits up for Lorient, Guendouzi’s old outfit, and that should bring back fond memories of just a year prior, not to mention Laurent Koscielny having suited up there as well. But of course, referring to a move as a “gamble” infers that nothing is guaranteed.

That said, after gambling on Guendouzi, the Gunners have a significant credit in the gambling arena, such that I will trust any gamble signing until they prove otherwise. The chance of a payoff along the lines of Guendouzi makes it well worth the investment. It’s not like Arsene Wenger’s gambles, which were so hit and miss that you could end up with someone like Koscielny, or someone like Yaya Sanogo.

Of course, the big difference is that Sven Mislintat is now gone, so this “gamble” would be made under a different recruitment head.

But this is all still Unai Emery’s era, and the gambling credit should really be attributed under his name. So I’m just going to pretend like Mislintat’s absence doesn’t matter and that gambling again, like we gambled on Guendouzi, will pan out in a similar way, because similar people are in charge.

And if not, well, it was always a gamble, and we still have Guendouzi. There’s nothing to lose.