Before finalising a deal for Nuno Tavares, Arsenal discussed a possible swap deal involving Matteo Guendouzi with Benfica.

Arsenal's French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi gestures to supporters as he leaves after the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor in Burnley, north west England on February 2, 2020. - The game finished 0-0. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Arsenal’s French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi gestures to supporters as he leaves after the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor in Burnley, north west England on February 2, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

The Guardian report that Arsenal’s discussions for Nuno Tavares included a possible swap deal for Matteo Guendouzi. Unfortunately, the player was against the move, as he wants to join Olympique de Marseille.

That didn’t have much of an impact on the Tavares deal, as Arsenal simply agreed a cash deal instead. The left-back is set to join for an initial £7m, with £1.5m in bonuses based on collective achievements.

But it leaves Guendouzi in limbo trying to secure a move away. Some reports suggest Arsenal will now consider lowering their price for him, but there’s still clearly no agreement just yet.

The latest update from a reliable source came via The Athletic on Monday, when they wrote that Guendouzi is theoretically one of the midfielders available for transfer this summer, but Arsenal are yet to receive an acceptable offer for him.

A cynical view would be that both Guendouzi and Marseille are aware that they’re the only club in for him he actually wants to join, so they can just wait it out until Arsenal are forced to accept a worse offer for him.

For all the talk about what a huge loss Guendouzi is going to be, there are just no big clubs making serious offers to put Marseille’s bid under pressure.