Matteo Guendozi has become a reference point whenever an example of a troublesome player is needed. The 21-year-old Arsenal midfielder has created a long lasting image for himself that could cost him his career with Arsenal.
Since February 2020, he has been in the news for a series of bad reasons related to misconduct or feud with his manager Mikel Arteta. The Frenchman joined Arsenal football club from FC Lorient in 2018 with huge potential but that seems to be dwindling in recent times due to his poor attitude.
Before now, he was known to be the hardworking youngster who wanted to help Arsenal to win matches and wanted to grow to become one of the biggest names in the club. Arsenal‘s fans love him for these attributes before he introduced the other side of himself to them.
His first famous feud with Mikel Arteta happened in February during the team’s warm-weather training camp in Dubai. According to reports, Matteo Guendozi engaged in an ugly shouting match with his manager which made Arteta so angry that he had to drop him from the squad that won Newcastle 4-0 on February 16, 2020.
Before that period, Guendozi was enjoying massive game time to the extent he was the 4th most used player in the squad. But after that, his game time began to reduce which the Franch international was not happy about because it would affect his chances of making it into the French national team for the European Championship.
After the coronavirus break, Mikel Arteta thought Matteo Guendozi would have learnt his lesson and embraced the principle of being discipline. Instead, the reverse was the case. On June 20, 2020, the French youngster decided to show the world how rugged he can be in Arsenal’s match against Brighton.
At the end of the match which ended 2-1 in favour of Brighton, Guendozi grabbed the neck of Brighton’s Neal Maupay for causing an injury to Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, during a duel in Arsenal’s box-eighteen.
Prior to the incident, reports said, Guendozi spent the whole duration of the match mocking Brighton’s players that he earns better than them. Fortunately for him, the English FA decided not to punish him for choking Maupay or for any other misconduct during the match.
Unfortunately for the French youngster, Mikel Arteta decided to punish him by not using him in any Arsenal game since the incident happened. This has sparked rumours that Arsenal might sell him this summer despite still having two years on his current contract with the club.
Other cases against Matteo Guendozi
In the same vein, his former manager at FC Lorient, Bernard Cason, said the bad attitude of the football star has been with him while still with Lorient football academy. He revealed that just like Mikel Arteta is finding it difficult to cope with him at Arsenal, that was the same thing that happened in Lorient.
“Guendouzi’s problem is not physical and is not technical. It’s his attitude, it’s not good for the team or the coach”, Casoni said.
“My relationship with him wasn’t very good. I picked him for a cup game against Nice but he got booked early on. The ref told me at half time to warn Guendouzi: one more foul and you’re off, but in the second half nothing changed.
“I was left with no choice but to sub him off. When I did, he refused to shake my hand.”
As it stands, the only thing that can keep Guendouzi at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta is if a club does not come with the right amount for his signature. Better still, if the 21-year-old midfielder can assure the Spanish tactician that he will stop being a problem to him, then, the Frenchman might be given a second chance.
