According to Kicker (h/t Football.London), Hertha Berlin’s sporting director Michael Preetz has spoken about on-loan midfielder Matteo Guendouzi joining the Bundesliga side on a permanent deal next summer. Preetz has praised Guendouzi’s contributions to the team so far and believes the midfielder has ‘enriched’ Hertha’s squad.
Preetz has spoken about the permanent transfer of Guendouzi in a positive light but said that the deal would rest upon the state of the transfer market and Arsenal’s valuation of the player next summer. Despite making just two starts for Hertha, Guendouzi has already impressed Preetz and the club will not oppose a permanent deal. (h/t Football.London)
Matteo Guendouzi started his career very early when he joined PSG’s youth academy at the age of 6 in 2005. After 9 years at PSG, Guendouzi moved to FC Lorient’s youth academy. After 24 appearances for the B team, Guendouzi got his promotion to the senior Lorient team in 2016.
The French midfielder went on to make 26 league appearances for the now-Ligue 1 club. Shortly after that, Arsenal swooped in for him in 2018. After featuring in 48 matches in his first season for the Gunners, the midfielder slowly fell out of favor with new Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. Guendouzi is currently on a loan spell with Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin. (h/t transfermarkt)
Mikel Arteta signing Thomas Partey this summer shows that the Spaniard has plans to rejuvenate his midfield. Playing as a defensive central midfielder, Guendouzi was ousted to make way for the new Ghanian signing. Mohamed Elneny is another midfielder that Arteta has put his trust in.
The Gunners have scored just 9 goals in 9 matches. The frontline, including Aubameyang, has misfired so far, and Arsenal would feel that they need a creative central midfielder. Matteo Guendouzi will not be this type of a midfielder, as his statistics suggest.
The Frenchman has scored just 1 goal in his 138 senior career appearances. Arsenal already have a stacked central midfield. The Gunners may further look to add a creative playmaker on top of that. In light of this, the best move for Mikel Arteta would be to sell the out-of-favour Matteo Guendouzi for a respectable sum before his contract runs out in 18 months.
If Berlin table a suitable offer, then Arteta will be wise to accept the deal. This would not only free up space in the overloaded Arsenal squad but also increase their budget if they look to add a creative midfielder in the upcoming transfer windows.
With just 18 months left on his contract, Arteta should look to offload the Frenchman before it’s too late. The dynamism that Guendouzi brings to the defensive aspects of the game is evident but the passion he showed on the pitch did not seem to match his performances in his time at Arsenal.
Even if Guendouzi did impress the fans during his stint in London, Arteta made it clear that he was looking for a different type of central midfielder to lead Arsenal’s midfield when he splurged £45 million on Partey. With the Frenchman clearly way down the pecking order at Arsenal, Arteta should be willing to cooperate if a club like Hertha Berlin table a bid for him in the summer.