Former Arsenal performance director Darren Burgess has highlighted Matteo Guendouzi’s work ethic that helped him to break into the Gunners first team.
Arsenal snapped up the young French midfielder from Lorient in the summer of 2018 with former head scout Sven Mislintat leading the club’s chase to sign him.
Former Gunners boss Unai Emery was a big believer in the midfielder’s talent and used him from the start of his first season at the club, but Burgess admits that he was in no shape to feature in the midfield of a top-six side when he joined.
But the former Arsenal performance director stressed the hard work the Frenchman put in to make sure that he developed physically and by the end of the first year he was a certainty in the line-up.
“When he arrived, from a physical perspective he certainly wasn’t in a position to play in central midfield for a top-six Premier League club”, the former Arsenal performance director told The Athletic.
“He worked really hard at improving himself physically so that by the end of that first year, he was absolutely capable.
“He showed massive improvement.”
Guendouzi has fallen out of favour with Mikel Arteta in recent weeks, with the two having clashed.
The Frenchman will hope to win back the manager’s confidence and get himself back in the team as soon as possible.
