Arsenal midfielder may not play under Mikel Arteta again, asking price set – originally posted on Sportslens.com
Arsenal will sanction the sale of midfielder Matteo Guendouzi once he returns from his season-long loan stint at Hertha Berlin this summer, Football Insider reports.
Guendouzi fell out-of-favour under manager Mikel Arteta following the project restart last season due to an incident after the defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Frenchman was frustrated with Neal Maupay playing a part in Bernd Leno’s knee injury and after the final whistle, he grabbed the forward by the neck for a brief moment.
He escaped any punishment through the FA for the reaction, but Arteta was clearly not pleased and axed him from the first-team squad for the rest of the season.
Guendouzi was loaned out to Hertha last summer and it is now reported that he may not play another game for the Gunners as he is not in the plans of Arteta.
The north London side failed to negotiate a £30m loan-to-buy option with Villarreal last summer, but they are confident of selling him for £25m later this year.
Sportslens view:
Guendouzi has 82 appearances to his name with the Gunners and he has previously come up with some standout performances for the Premier League side.
The 21-year-old has the potential to become a top-class midfielder in the long-run, but his discipline has been a concern in his short career.
Elsewhere, the midfielder’s preference to carry the ball often sees him squandering possession and he was recently criticised by Hertha boss Pal Dardai.
Arteta is likely to rebuild his squad after another disappointing league campaign and for that, the club will need to recoup some funds from player sales.
The Spaniard will obviously look into offloading the out-of-favour players first and Guendouzi is one of them, who may be shown the exit door.
Aside from the Frenchman, Alexandre Lacazette, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson are other players linked with summer exits.
In other news, Gunners boss Arteta is keen on landing the signature of 21-year-old Bundesliga centre-back this summer.
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