Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi changed everything at this club

Arsenal found something special in Matteo Guendouzi, and now he remains the trendsetter that could change the whole outlook at this club.

For the longest time, when Arsene Wenger would sign a young player for Arsenal, we knew we had to bide our time and, chances were, we’d never see them again. They’d fade away, fail to develop, and that was that. But then Matteo Guendouzi happened.

Guendouzi wasn’t perfect last year, and he won’t be perfect this year. But Guendouzi did something that we absolutely needed to happen—he showed the immediate viability of youth players that were exceptionally talented.

That’s a mouthful, so let me break it down.

Wenger was always hesitant to send youth players into the first team, especially for prolonged minutes. Maybe he was waiting to see something at the youth level, but for guys like Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Daniel Crowley, Chuba Akpom, who had a world of talent, there was one clear theme—no opportunity. And here’s a fun fact, you’ll never make it in the first team if you never play in the first team.

It’s hard to put faith in youth and toss them into the first team set-up, but thanks to Matteo Guendouzi, it should be getting easier.

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Guendouzi followed the same path of so many teenagers before him. He came to Arsenal on a wing and a prayer, under the radar, but rather than getting buried in the youth ranks, Unai Emery tossed him straight into the starting XI.

The results have been magnificent. In the course of a year, we saw Guendouzi grow so much, improve so much, become someone who, with more time, can shape into a complete midfielder. And all this from a raw project, an unproven youngster, someone we knew nothing about.

This gives me so much hope for the future of guys like Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, and I would hope it gives hope to the folks inside the club as well. We all saw how positively supreme talent gets molded by experiences in the Premier League, so why not throw some more supreme talent in there and see how it molds and shapes?

Saka and Martinelli (and Reiss Nelson, and Emile Smith Rowe and…) are incredibly talented, and if the ‘sink or swim’ method worked for Guendouzi, it can work for them too. But calling it ‘sink or swim’ doesn’t quite feel right does it? That infers that there is an equal chance of success and failure.

I see it more as a ‘how far can you swim?’ Because they’re too talented to drown.