‘I played with Arsenal star Mikel Arteta froze out – I understand exactly why he did it’

As a result of the attitude that a former teammate witnessed firsthand, Mikel Arteta decided to bench Matteo Guendouzi at Arsenal.

Prior to signing his first professional deal with FC Lorient in 2016, Guendouzi, who is now 25 years old, made a name for himself at FC Lorient throughout his childhood. A period of two years was spent by the midfielder with Les Merlus until the Gunners made a surprise move to acquire him in 2018 for an amount that was not disclosed. This move provided him with the opportunity to establish himself in the Premier League.

Despite the fact that Guendouzi was given a significant amount of playing time during his first season with the club, playing 33 games in the league and 15 games in cup competitions, Arteta appeared to have a change of heart regarding the Frenchman when he arrived at the Emirates in December of 2019.

Guendouzi was removed from the team in favour of Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka. Instead, he was sent out on loan to Hertha Berlin and Marseille, with the latter becoming a permanent transfer in 2022. Guendouzi’s departure from the team occurred in favour of the aforementioned players. And according to Jeremie Aliadiere, a former Arsenal superstar, it was Guendouzi’s attitude that may have been the source of conflict between Arteta and Arteta in north London.

Aliadiere, who himself spent six years with the Gunners after signing with them at the age of sixteen in 2001, stated the following in an interview with Le Telegramme: “Frankly, from the point of view of talent and purely football, if I’m just talking about that, there is no surprise.”

“Afterwards, during my final season at Lorient, when he began to practice with us and to play, I had a little worry about his attitude. I was concerned about his behaviour. My thoughts were, “He’s going to have to make some adjustments.”

This is a little family club, and that is all there is to it. He lives in Lorient, so it is reasonable. It is necessary for him to alter his mindset in order to achieve his goal of climbing the ladder and playing for a major club. When he came to Arsenal, I believe he made the connection between the two immediately.

There was a post-match confrontation between Guendouzi and Neal Maupay of Brighton in the year 2020, which resulted in Guendouzi being barred from training and supposedly withdrawn from his club’s match-day squads due to difficulties with “attitude and general conduct.” Guendouzi gained a reputation for being a temperamental player as a result of this conflict. His relationship with Arteta was never able to heal from the scenario, which ultimately led to his borrowing money from Hertha for the first time.

When Guendouzi was speaking in 2022, he asserted that the incident with Maupay had no bearing whatsoever on his final departure from England. “Journalists used this excuse to say that we had a bad relationship, and that’s why I stopped playing and left Arsenal,” he revealed. “It was to justify my departure from Arsenal.”

Not in the least. On the pitch, it is a gesture similar to many others. On occasion, there is a great deal of stress, and there are a great deal of issues on the pitch. Whatever the situation may be, it is completely unrelated to any of that. He continued by saying, “It’s true that I didn’t have the best relationship with Arteta.” This was in reference to his dating relationship with Arteta.

In addition to that, I always made an effort to work hard and always offered my very best effort throughout both my training and my matches. There are still a few matches that I play with him, and I continue to have amazing performances. I appreciate his decision to favour other players, and I respect his preference. That is why, later, I also made the decision to depart since I was still young and I required playing time in order to continue making development. When you are young, playing is the most essential thing you can do.

Guendouzi was a player for Marseille for a period of two years, during which he made a total of thirty-five appearances for the club before being loaned out to Lazio between the years 2023 and 2024. It was decided to make the switch to the side permanent this year, and Guendouzi has participated in each of their twelve Serie A matches so far at this point in the season.