Matteo Guendouzi has been warned by former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn that he must make "huge improvements" if he is to secure an escape route out of the Emirates Stadium to Barcelona.
football.london revealed earlier this week that patience at Arsenal was wearing thin with Guendouzi, who has not taken up numerous opportunities to apologise to head coach Mikel Arteta for his recent conduct on and off the pitch.
Arsenal are now prepared to consider offers for the 21-year-old despite being acutely aware of the talent that prompted the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund to rival them for his signature in 2018. Two years later several other top sides have been linked with Guendouzi, including Barcelona.
However Winterburn, who made over 500 appearances for the Gunners between 1987 and 2000 and won three league titles, doubts whether Guendouzi is up to the standard required for one of the top sides in Europe and whether a deal would make sense for Barcelona.
"I think there would need to be a huge improvement in Guendouzi’s game for Barcelona to be willing to take him," Winterburn told bookmakers.co.uk.
"He’s a young kid who’s made big improvements but there’s a long way to go, so that would surprise me if it turns out to be true.
"Arsenal wouldn’t just let him go easily even if they do decide to sell him, it would need to be a substantial fee, so would Barcelona think he’s worth the risk? If the price is right, maybe, but it seems like a bit of a long shot to me."
Guendouzi has not played for Arsenal since a 2-1 defeat to Brighton in which he was engaged in a war of words with Seagulls striker Neal Maupay that saw him taunt his opponent about how much money he and his team-mates earned. Since then he has been training on his own.
The former Lorient youngster had already been reprimanded before in Arteta's tenure, finding himself dropped for a game against Newcastle after his conduct on a trip to Dubai. Guendouzi was given a reprive after that incident but his failure to apologise for his conduct in the aftermath of the defeat at the Amex Stadium has left him facing an exit from Arsenal.
Winterburn said: "Arteta doesn’t seem to be the type of manager to accept any excuses, we’ve already seen that he’s not afraid to leave players out of the squad who don’t toe the line and I really admire him for that because he’s clearly trying to instill some discipline.
"With Guendouzi, it all comes down to the player’s actions as well as the manager. I don’t know exactly what issues there are with Guendouzi, but it looks like the manager has had a word with him and asked him to show that he can do what is asked of him for the benefit of the team so everyone can move forward.
"But if the player is not willing to do that, or has taken offense in some way, then you usually find that the player will ultimately force his way out of the club. He’s a young player who has made some improvements over a short period of time but there’s a lot more room for development from him.
"It’s up to the player to turn this situation around. It looks as though Arteta has thrown down the gauntlet to try and test his resolve, and if Guendouzi reacts in the wrong way then he’ll be gone. You can’t have someone in your squad who is disturbing the rest of the team.
"But I have to say I like the way Arteta is organising the team and how he is dealing with these situations, it seems as though he won’t take any messing around and that’s a good thing – it’s been too easy at Arsenal for too long."
