Arsenal could be set to pocket a small fee if Matteo Guendouzi leaves Marseille in the transfer window.
Guendouzi endured a rollercoaster four years with the north Londoners before joining the Ligue 1 side on a permanent basis last summer after falling out with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta. Many people had theorised that the Frenchman's on-pitch spat with former Brighton striker Neal Maupay back in June 2020 was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of his Arsenal departure but the young midfielder has since claimed that this was not the case.
Speaking about the clash with Maupay to beIN Sports, as relayed by Goal France, he said: "Journalists used this excuse to say that we had a bad relationship and that's why I stopped playing and left Arsenal. Not at all. It’s a gesture like many on the pitch.
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"There's a lot of tension sometimes, a lot of problems on the pitch. In any case, it has nothing to do with all that."
As per CIES Football Observatory, Guendouzi is currently worth €40 million (£35 million) and French outlet L'Equipe have now reported that an unnamed Premier League club has made an offer for the 23-year-old. This will peak Arsenal's interest considering they ensured his current Marseille contract has a sell-on clause, according to The Athletic, meaning they will pocket a percentage of the transfer fee if he does leave the Orange Velodrome.
One Premier League manager who has previous links to Guendouzi is current Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, who signed the French international at Arsenal back in the summer of 2018. The pair enjoyed a solid working relationship before Arteta replaced Emery in the managerial hot-seat in December 2019.
When quizzed on his relationship with Arteta last year, Guendouzi said: "It's true that I didn't have the best relationship with him. Beyond that, I always tried to work, always gave the maximum of myself in training and in matches.
"I still play a few matches with him, I still did great performances. He preferred other players and I respect that decision.
"That's why, afterwards, I also decided to leave because I was still young, I needed playing time to continue to progress.
"The most important when you're young is to play."
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