Matteo Guendouzi: Good enough for France but not for Arsenal?

Matteo Guendouzi completed the realisation of a childhood dream on Tuesday, when the Arsenal-owned midfielder turned out for France against Finland in a World Cup qualifier.

Guendouzi has been around the world champions’ squad on several occasions but the 2-0 win in Helsinki was the first chance that he had to take to the field.

And the on-loan Marseille player added impetus and his trademark competitiveness to France as they picked up the pace after a scoreless first half and ran out winners thanks to goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe.

“Since I was very young, it’s been the Holy Grail to play for the France team and it’s been a goal that’s been in my head,” he told Le Chaine L’Equipe.

“Today, I played my first minutes and I hope it’s the beginning of a long relationship. I’ll continue to work for this.

“The first few minutes are always a special moment, a huge source of pride and it's been a job for a long time. But like I said, this is only the beginning and I hope to play a number of matches with the team.”

How is Guendouzi playing on loan at Marseille?

Guendouzi’s France debut is confirmation of his excellent club for, though he is with Marseille on loan as opposed to Arsenal.

Indeed, his bridges at the Emirates Stadium appear to be burned, with head coach Mikel Arteta having shipped him out of the club following a succession of incidents, which culminated in Guendouzi grabbing the throat of Brighton’s Neal Maupay in 2020.

Guendouzi has not managed to shake his apparently magnetic ability to cause controversy since moving to France. He has previously clashed with team-mate Gerson, reportedly calling him lazy, while before Les Bleus’ fixture with Kazakhstan he said he would rather have played at Stade de France because “the Parc des Princes is PSG’s stadium”.

Nevertheless, his on-field contributions have been broadly stellar, scoring three goals and creating three more for OM.

Guendouzi’s improved offensive production combined with his competitiveness have made for a potent blend, and undoubtedly raises more questions as to whether Arsenal should be doing more to try to keep him.