Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has dispelled rumours of a rift in the Gunners’ dressing room and says that they will have a great season.
The 19-year-old, a £7million summer signing from Lorient, has been a surprise starter for Arsenal so far this season and has enjoyed a bright start to life in North London.
However, things have not been so smooth for some of his team mates, with reports of a falling out between Mesut Ozil and new manager Unai Emery, although the boss yesterday denied the claims.
Speaking after Saturday’s 3-1 win over West Ham, the Gunners’ first victory of the season, Guendouzi was asked about the rumoured unrest but said: “No, no, no, there are never tensions. Of course we lost the first two matches but there were very positive things in those first two matches, it should be noted,” he told RMC Sport.
“So now we won against West Ham and maybe we showed people who didn’t believe in us that we will be there this season and you have to count on us until the end of the season.
“We know what we are capable of, we have a great squad, a great staff. It’s a great club, we know we can do great things this year.”
On 11 July 2018 during the summer transfer window, it was announced that Guendouzi had joined Premier League team Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £7m plus bonuses.
Head coach Unai Emery said “We are delighted Matteo is joining us. He is a talented young player and a lot of clubs were interested in him. He has big potential and gained good first-team experience last season with Lorient. He wants to learn and improve and will be an important part of our first-team squad”. Upon joining the club, Guendouzi was given the number 29 shirt, previously held by Granit Xhaka, who took the number 34 shirt, following the departure of Francis Coquelin, the previous season
. On July 28th, he made his second debut in a friendly match against his former club Paris Saint Germain in Singapore. He started the game, impressed and helped his team to beat Paris Saint Germain 5-1. On 12 August 2018, Guendouzi made his Premier League debut in Arsenal’s opening fixture of the season against defending Champions Manchester City where he made 72 touches, the most for his team. They lost the match 0-2.