Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi met with reported transfer target and former Lorient teammate Alexis Claude-Maurice on Thursday.

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Alexis Claude-Maurice of Lorient (Photo via Metro)

Last week, the media linked Arsenal to a £9m move for the Lorient attacker, with the Mirror claiming they’d made ‘regular checks’ on him this season. Guendouzi appears to be doing his part, meeting up with his friend and former teammate yesterday:

Although it’s mostly fun and games joking about ‘agent Guendouzi’, the 20-year-old is surely going to have some impact on Claude-Maurice’s willingness to join Arsenal. Guendouzi has made 47 appearances for the club in his debut season, and he’ll travel to Baku for the Europa League final in the coming days.

Undoubtedly, Claude-Maurice will be aware of the transition his friend has made, and he’ll surely hope for a similar opportunity himself.

Claude-Maurice is also 20, and scored 14 goals and provided four assists as his side just narrowly missed out on the promotion playoffs this season. Though he can play up front and has done on at least one occasion this season, he’s more commonly found on the left-wing or in midfield.

There’s plenty of competition for Arsenal in the race for the player’s signature, from recently-promoted Norwich City in England to AS Monaco and Eintracht Frankfurt from abroad. It’s unlikely any of them would be able to compete with the Gunners financially though, and Guendouzi might give them the edge in convincing the player he’ll get a chance.