Arsenal made a mistake with Matteo Guendouzi loan deal

Oh Matteo. Such talent, and yet, such attitude. Matteo Guendouzi, another of Unai Emery’s visionary purchases, alongside William Saliba, has had an interesting career since he was brought over from France to Arsenal. He was always fiery, and always ready to play with the sort of recklessness that was not best appreciated by the opposition or even his own teammates.

While he would fall out of favor with Emery, his talent remains undeniable, as now regular call-up to the French national squad should continue to demonstrate.

Under Mikel Arteta the player played 433 out of 1080 available minutes in the Premier League to find some consistency until that infamous Brighton match, and just this summer found himself shipped to Marseille alongside his young comrade Saliba after being at Hertha Berlin the season prior. While Saliba is expected to rejoin Arsenal, Guendouzi recently came out on Twitter to announce that he has no intention of returning to Arsenal after his loan spell with Marseille is up.

While this is an admirable stand for the young man to make, it is also wholly accurate because the Gunners agreed to a loan with an obligation to purchase with Marseille; he can’t come back, even though his great form is making his inevitable departure from the club all the more painful to witness.

https://twitter.com/MatteoGuendouzi/status/1458507106923986946

Matteo Guendouzi is a great player with a poor attitude and Arsenal should never have let Marseille loan him with an obligation to buy

While Guendouzi was always talented, he was not always a great fit for a team in flux, without great leadership and a clear vision. With Arsenal on their way towards that type of stability it might be better for all involved if he were to actually come back and show his talent at this new Arsenal, after growing up and evolving himself a bit. Yet, as is well known, this is impossible, and for that, like the Konstantinos Mavropanos handling, this one falls on the boss and Edu.

The strangest thing about Guendouzi is that he doesn’t have trouble everywhere he goes. He seems quite happy right now, there is no fuss about him, and he is being lauded as a great young midfielder in his native France, both with club and country. He was not so serene in north London, however, and that might be chalked up to youthful tactlessness and inexperience: both Emery and Arteta were tough on him at times, and it appears as though he resents Arteta to some degree still.

This, too, is foolish youthful exuberance. Arteta did what he felt he had to do create a sense of hierarchy, purpose, consistency and structure for the good of the team. Guendouzi was obstinate and so could not remain to inflame feelings or circumstances; he was sent away for very different reasons than Saliba, and yet, had the Gunners displayed a bit more patience with him, putting him on loan with no obligation to buy, the Gunners could have had another secret treasure hidden away in France.

Was there scope for Guendouzi to be reintroduced at Arsenal?

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