Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi is expected to complete his transfer to Olympique Marseille next week, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. The player has been on the fringes for the Gunners for a while now, and was offered to Benfica a couple of weeks ago.
The London club wanted Benfica to agree to a swap deal involving Guendouzi and their full-back Nuno Tavares. However, the midfielder rejected the move to Portugal and Arsenal signed the left-back anyway for a fee worth €8 million.
Guendouzi spent 20/21 out on loan with Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga and is now being shipped back to France on a loan deal with the option to buy. Marseille will pay the Gunners €1 million for the loan, and will have to to buy him for €11 million. They will also sign William Saliba from the Emirates this summer alongside Pau Lopez and Cengiz Under from Roma.
The Frenchman will be the third midfielder to leave Arsenal this summer. Granit Xhaka is expected to join Roma in a couple of weeks while Lucas Torreira is also expected to move to Italy, with Lazio interested in signing the player. His violent attitude has caused all sorts of problems for Mikel Arteta, which is the main reason why he was sent away in the first place.
Arsenal & Marseille have found an agreement for Matteo Guendouzi. He will join on loan (€1m fee) with an obligation to buy for €11m. The player turned down ‘several clubs’ to join Marseille & will sign a four-year contract at the club. [@MohamedTERParis] #afc pic.twitter.com/TatTC37GHB
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 3, 2021
The player’s time in London is finally at an end with the agreement between the two clubs involving a mandatory buy option. Arsenal have been linked with numerous midfielders, and are yet to confirm their first summer arrival.
