Mikel Arteta has refused to guarantee Matteo Guendouzi will be an Arsenal player next season, amid suggestions that the midfielder would be open to leaving the club.
Guendouzi was dropped from the travelling squad for Thursday’s 2-0 win at Southampton, three days after he had avoided an FA charge for his role in a fracas at Brighton last Saturday. Reports in his native France have said that, during an internal meeting regarding that episode, Guendouzi made it known that he would be happy to depart this summer.
“Whatever internal issues we have, we will deal with them privately and I am never going to make any of that public,” Arteta said when asked whether that was an accurate reflection of Guendouzi’s situation.
Questioned on whether Guendouzi would definitely remain at the club beyond this summer, Arteta was similarly tight-lipped but took pains to say every member of his team must buy into his way of operating. “All the players that are here, I am counting on them,” he said. “If they want to jump on the boat they are more than welcome and that’s always my mindset. I am here to help all of them to improve individually and collectively. That is my job.”
Arteta and Guendouzi have had a mixed relationship since the head coach took over in December. Guendouzi was left out of the win over Newcastle in February after a difference of opinion during a training camp in Dubai, and the 21-year-old has not been a regular in Arteta’s starting lineup. It remains to be seen whether he will be recalled for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.