Matteo Guendouzi

Matteo Elias Kenzo Guendouzi Olié (French pronunciation: ​[mateo ɡɛnduzi]; born 14 April 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and the French under-21 team.

Matteo Guendouzi
Guendouzi with Arsenal in 2019
Personal information
Full name Matteo Elias Kenzo Guendouzi Olié[1]
Date of birth (1999-04-14) 14 April 1999[2]
Place of birth Poissy, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 29
Youth career
2005–2014 Paris Saint-Germain
2014–2016 Lorient
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Lorient B 24 (0)
2016–2018 Lorient 26 (0)
2018– Arsenal 57 (0)
National team‡
2016–2017 France U18 7 (0)
2017 France U19 2 (1)
2017–2018 France U20 3 (1)
2018– France U21 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:26, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2019

Club career

Early career

Guendouzi started his career at the academy of Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 6. He left Paris to join Lorient's academy in 2014. After representing the Lorient B side, he was promoted to the first team in 2016.

Lorient

Guendouzi made his debut for Lorient on 15 October 2016, in the Ligue 1 match against Nantes in a 1–2 defeat. He played nine times in all competitions,[4] during his debut season of 2016–17 as Lorient were relegated to the second tier at the end of the season.[5][6]

In the 2017–18 season, Guendouzi featured 21 times for Lorient as they missed out on promotion, finishing seventh in Ligue 2.[7]

Arsenal
Guendouzi playing for Arsenal in 2018

On 11 July 2018, during the summer transfer window, it was announced that Guendouzi had joined Premier League club Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £7m plus bonuses.[8] Head coach Unai Emery said: "We are delighted Matteo is joining us. He is a talented young player and a lot of clubs were interested in him. He has big potential and gained good first-team experience last season with Lorient. He wants to learn and improve and will be an important part of our first-team squad".[9]

On 28 July, he made his second debut in a friendly match against his former club Paris Saint Germain in Singapore. He started the game, impressed and helped his team to beat Paris Saint Germain 5–1.[10] On 12 August, Guendouzi made his Premier League debut in Arsenal's opening fixture of the season against defending Champions Manchester City where he made 72 touches, the most for his team. They lost the match 0–2.[11]

Guendouzi scored the first professional goal of his career on 4 October, rounding off the scoring in Arsenal's 3–0 away win over Qarabağ FK, a low drive from just inside the penalty area, following an assist from Alexandre Lacazette.[12]

Following a post-match altercation with Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.'s Neal Maupay on 20 June 2020, Guendouzi was excluded from Arsenal trainings and left out of the club's match-day squads due to a history of issues with his "attitude and general conduct."[13]

International career

Guendouzi was born in a suburb of Paris, France. He has represented France at levels up to France U20s.[7] With partial Moroccan heritage, Guendouzi was approached by Morocco manager Hervé Renard in 2017 to change allegiances to play for the Morocco national team. However, after Guendouzi's father met Renard in March 2017, Guendouzi decided to remain and pledge allegiance to France.[14]

On 2 September 2019, Guendouzi was called up to the French senior side for the first time to replace the injured Paul Pogba for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Albania and Andorra.[15] However, he was an unused substitute in both matches.

Career statistics
As of match played on 20 June 2020[16]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Lorient B 2015–16 CFA 60———60
2016–17 CFA 170———170
2017–18 National 2 10———10
Total 240———240
Lorient 2016–17 Ligue 1 801000—90
2017–18 Ligue 2 1801020—210
Total 2602020—300
Arsenal 2018–19 Premier League 330103011[lower-alpha 1]1481
2019–20 Premier League 24030106[lower-alpha 1]0340
Total 5704040171821
Career total 107060601711361
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Arsenal

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2018 and 31/07/2018". The Football Association. p. 15. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    "Matteo Guendouzi". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  2. "Matteo Guendouzi" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  3. "Matteo Guendouzi: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  4. "Matteo Guendouzi in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. "Troyes promoted to Ligue 1". beIN SPORTS Australia. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. "French Football League – FC LORIENT". Ligue1.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  7. "Arsenal in talks with France U20 midfielder Matteo Guendouzi". Sky Sports. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  8. Wheatley, Chris (11 July 2018). "Who is Matteo Guendouzi? The French teenage wonderkid who has joined Arsenal". Goal. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  9. "Matteo Guendouzi joins the club". Arsenal F.C. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  10. "Arsenal 5–1 PSG: Alexandre Lacazette leads second-half blitz after captain Mesut Ozil opener". London Evening Standard. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  11. "Arsenal 0–2 Man City: Unai Emery's opener is a reality check for Arsenal". BBC Sport. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. Henry, Matthew (4 October 2018). "Qarabag 0–3 Arsenal: Emile Smith Rowe scores first goal in Europa League win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  13. Ornstein, James McNicholas and David. "Guendouzi hasn't trained with Arsenal first team for two..." The Athletic. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  14. Scoulino (1 March 2017). "Maroc : Renard tourne la page de Guendouzi" [Morocco: Renard turns the page of Guendouzi]. Orange Football Club (in French). Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  15. "Bleus : Mattéo Guendouzi appelé à la place de Paul Pogba, forfait". L'Équipe. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  16. "M. Guendouzi: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  17. Bevan, Chris (29 May 2019). "Chelsea 4–1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
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