Unai Emery was, like the rest of us, genuinely surprised to hear that Matteo Guendouzi was being linked with a £60m move to PSG in the summer just one year after arriving at Arsenal.
1Surprise surprise
There’s no doubt that Matteo Guendouzi has been a revelation this season for Arsenal.
Despite still only being a teenager and apparently arriving at the club as ‘one for the future’ he was thrown into the first team immediately upon arrival and hasn’t looked back since.
Gunedouzi started his footballing journey with PSG in 2005 when he was just six-years-old, moving on to Lorient nine years later.
It was from there that Arsenal picked him up last summer for just £7.2m and there is rightly concern that the club could be swayed by such a large and quick profit.
Never fear, the club have no intention of selling him.
“I am surprised,” Emery replied when he was asked about the recent speculation. “I don’t want this.
“His development is like we want. He has a big ambition, big quality. Sometimes we need more quality with him and sometimes we need for him to be more stronger in midfield.
“But his development with us is very important and he’s playing with big consistency and I think he is improving a lot. His quality is very impressive for us.”
Guendouzi has featured in 23 Premier League games for Arsenal, although he has yet to register a goal or assist. He did find the net during one of his seven Europa League outings (v Qarabag), however, and grabbed two assists in three appearances in this season’s EFL Cup (v Brentford and Blackpool).
What are the exact details of this Guendouzi rumour? Click next to read more and to find out what Guendouzi thinks about his first season at Arsenal and how he convinced Emery to give him a chance.