Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi wants to fulfil his international dream with France despite overtures from Morocco.
The 19-year-old has caught the eye with some all-action displays for Unai Emery’s side since joining from Lorient during the close season.Guendouzi has represented France at every age-group level from Under-18 upwards and made his first appearances for the Under-21 side against Croatia and Spain over the past week.
His Moroccan heritage means Guendouzi’s international options remain open until he plays a competitive game for Les Bleus. Speaking after Monday’s 1-1 draw against Spain, he told Canal+ that representing the country of his birth remains a huge motivation.
“Since I was young, I’ve always played with the French teams, it’s a dream to play with France A,” he said.
“And I’m hoping to get there, it’s a dream for me. to make it happen.”
The youngster has thanked three Arsenal team-mates for helping him settle in at the club.The midfielder moved to the Gunners from Lorient for £7million in the summer and was relatively unknown to fans in north London.But despite being just 19 years of age the Frenchman has made quite the impact under Unai Emery.
Guendouzi has featured in 14 games for Arsenal this season and has shown flashes of brilliance.
“They gave me advice as soon as I got to Arsenal, in particular [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, [Laurent] Koscielny and [Alexandre] Lacazette,” Guendouzi told Canal+ .
“It’s going really well thanks to all of them.”
On how he feels things at Arsenal have started, he added: “I’m very happy about my start.
“After that, the most important for me is the team, we’re on a good run of 15 or 16 games without a loss, which is something we need to continue on.
“We’ve drawn the last three games in the league, but we’re a very solid team, and I hope we can do great things.
“There’s a really good togetherness in the group, and that’s why we’ve made a good start to the season. It really is everyone together. There’s no specific groups, and it shows on the pitch.”