Marseille are ready to sell Matteo Guendouzi as Newcastle United, Aston Villa and West Ham look to bring the former Arsenal youngster back to the Premier League.
That is according to Foot Mercato; the France international set to be sacrificed despite two largely impressive campaigns at one of the biggest and best-supported clubs anywhere in Ligue 1.
Marseille, the report explains, ‘have decided to sell Guendouzi’. Igor Tudor’s L’OM side have identified Chelsea’s Juventus loanee Denis Zakaria as a readymade replacement too.
Zakaria has a £25 million option-to-buy clause in his Stamford Bridge contract. Having featured just seven times in the Premier League – five of those starts – it feels unlikely in the extreme that Zakaria returns as a permanent member of the Chelsea squad in time for 2023/24.
Will Unai Emery reunite with Matteo Guendouzi at Aston Villa?
Guendouzi, who featured for France at the Qatar World Cup, is valued in the £44 million bracket. L’Equipe report that West Ham and Newcastle are among his admirers. As are Aston Villa. The chance to reunite with Unai Emery – the coach who made Guendouzi a regular in the Arsenal midfield while still a teenager – is likely to appeal to the poodle-haired playmaker.
“The focus for Aston Villa is Guendouzi. Yes, absolutely they want this player,” Fabrizio Romano tells his House of Champions podcast. “Unai Emery is in love with this player.”
Now 24, Guendouzi has blossomed from a boy to a man in Marseille; adding a more mature streak to the precocious potential that once had Emery tipping the former PSG starlet for a very bright future in North London.
‘Amazing’
“He was very young,” Emery said of Guendouzi during their time together at Arsenal. “His wish to adapt very quickly, as well as his quality, is very good for us. He started playing and training with (the first-team). His progress during the season was amazing.”
Guendouzi has five goals and four assists this season for a Marseille side well placed to secure Champions League qualification.
“If he were to leave, I would be in mourning,” admits Eric Di Meco, a four-time Ligue 1 champion at Marseille. “I really like this player. For me, Guendouzi is the X-factor.
“He has something about him. He runs everywhere, he puts his foot in, he is unbearable (to play against). He’s a great player. Last year, he had a great season. This season, he is not playing in his best role. I feel like Tudor likes him a little higher up the pitch.
“He’s done that (new, more attacking role) with a lot of drive and talent too.”
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