OFFICIAL: Arsenal confirm the signing of French teen Guendouzi

Guendouzi has joined from French second tier side Lorient, signing for the 'Gunners' for an undisclosed fee that is rumoured to be in the region of £8m.

The Frenchman plays in midfield, and started off at the Paris Saint-Germain academy before moving to the Lorient youth set-up. He has represented France at U18, U19 and U20 level, and made his first-team debut for Lorient in 2016, at the age of 17.

 

July 11, 2018

“We are delighted Matteo is joining us," head coach Unai Emery said of the deal. "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.”

The player himself expressed his pride at joining the English side. "Arsenal have always been the team closest to my heart," he claimed. "And a side I’ve wanted to join since I was a child. It gives me great pride – it’s incredible." 

"I hope I can do great things here.  It doesn’t get any better than coming to a club like this, with so much history, like Arsenal. I’m hugely proud."

 

July 11, 2018

Guendouzi is Emery's fifth signing of the summer, following goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen, defender Stephan Lichtsteiner from Juventus, defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund and midfielder Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria into the club.