Replacement lined up, as Arteta to recall ostracized Arsenal man this month

Matteo Guendouzi TEAMtalk

Arsenal will recall Matteo Guendouzi this month from his loan spell at Hertha Berlin, claims a report.

The France midfielder was offloaded on a season-long loan in the summer after a fall-out with Mikel Arteta.

But his efforts in Germany have not gone unnoticed by Arsenal officials and Bild says the Bundesliga side expect Guendouzi to be recalled this month.

And Hertha have already lined up a replacement in 26-year-old Wolfsburg midfielder Yannick Gerhardt. They face competition from Cologne for the player but are hoping to push through a deal with Guendouzi set to leave.

Guendouzi fell out of favour last summer when clashing with Brighton players in a 2-1 defeat at the Amex Stadium.

Arteta decided to loan out the 21-year-old, but the Gunners have plans for the player in January.

However, it’s not clear whether the midfielder will be welcomed into the squad or sold. But given Arteta’s stance regarding Mesut Ozil, it’s more likely to be the latter.

Guendouzi’s Arsenal contract runs out in 2022. It means his value is depreciating and Arteta maybe looking to sell him to get some transfer funds for January.

Guendouzi has rediscovered his form with the German outfit.

After suffering with Covid-19 following his move to Germany, the midfielder has become a regular.

He has started the last eight games, scoring twice, one of which was a fine strike in the 3-0 win over Schalke.

And Hertha boss Bruno Labbadia has been delighted with the player.

“We’re glad we managed to recruit him,” Labbadia said last year.

“He is a very, very good player, who has a sense of space and is very technically skilled.

 

“Although he’s young, he gives instructions. He doesn’t care at all that he doesn’t speak the language.”

Zaha opens up on Arsenal snub

Meanwhile, Wilfried Zaha has revealed he held talks with Unai Emery over a move to Arsenal in the summer of 2019 but has questioned the Gunners’ decision to sign Nicolas Pepe instead.

Zaha has been frequently linked with Arsenal, including in the current window. That was no different 18 months ago, when the winger was pushing for an exit from Crystal Palace in order to play European football.

Arsenal were the favourites to sign him, particularly with Emery looking to make changes to his squad. The Spaniard was also keen on signing the former Man Utd winger.

A move never materialised though, with Arsenal signing Nicolas Pepe in a big-money deal instead.

And Zaha has now explained exactly what happened in that saga. Speaking to Jamie Carragher’s ‘The Greatest Game’ Podcast (via The Metro), Zaha said: “I had a conversation with the manager, actually.

“He was just like, ‘we don’t need to go through much’.”

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