Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta says “the door is always open” for Matteo Guendouzi and he could return to the squad for Sunday’s FA Cup clash at Sheffield United after being dropped for Thursday’s win over Southampton.
The French midfielder was left out of Arsenal’s 20-man party for their 2-0 victory at St Mary’s, with Arteta saying the decision was down to “squad management”.
Guendouzi’s omission came in the wake of his flare-up with Neal Maupay at the end of Saturday’s loss at Brighton, when he appeared to grab the striker by the throat.
Guendouzi escaped an FA ban over the incident but he was left out of the squad yesterday and was replaced by teenager Matt Smith, who was involved with the first team for the first time.
Next up for Arsenal is their FA Cup quarter-final at Bramall Lane on Sunday and when asked if Guendouzi would return, Arteta told the BBC: “The door is always open.”
The Spaniard later added: “Whatever issue we have internally, I will resolve it in a private way. I explained that I cannot explain and that’s it.
“I don’t like to make any decisions to send messages [to the squad]. The messages that I send to the team or individually are very open and I’m clear with how I feel. Winning is the most important thing and when you win, everything is fine.”
Guendouzi’s behaviour has been questioned by Arsenal in the past, namely on a mid-season trip to Dubai in February, and the club will have a decision to make over his future this summer, given he has two years to run on his current contract. Ideally, they need to extend his deal or cash in on him now when they can get value for him.
Aside from Arteta’s decision to drop Guendouzi, Thursday evening’s victory was fairly uneventful for Arsenal.
They have had a difficult start following their return to Premier League action, with two defeats, injuries, contract talks and even a player falsely testing positive for coronavirus adding to their problems.
With that in mind, those at the club will have believed they were due a bit of luck and they got it, courtesy of Eddie Nketiah’s 20th-minute opener, which came after Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy basically passed the ball straight to him.
Fellow Arsenal academy graduate Joe Willock wrapped up the win late on, but what will have pleased Arteta most was his team’s ability to see the game out after they had collapsed against Brighton, having taken the lead.
“We had two very difficult weeks with a lot of things that happened to us,” added Arteta.
“I was concerned, because after the defeat at Brighton, where we threw the game away, it really touched the team.
“I know what this team can do, but only when we are 100 per cent focused and we are 100 per cent committed to competing. If not, we are at the moment average.”
