Profile: ‘He is not a bad kid, he’s not nasty, he’s just got an innate, deep belief in himself’

It was the biggest decision of Matteo Guendouzi’s life. It was the start of this summer and the 19-year-old needed to choose what type of environment would help him to grow, at which football club would his future would take place.

It had been a difficult season for him, playing in patches for FC Lorient in Ligue 2 but falling out with manager Mickael Landreau and often being left out of the team. He could have played for France at the European Under-19 Championship in June, but he wanted his future finalised instead.

Not many teenagers from that position would have their pick of Europe’s top clubs, but Guendouzi is different. Borussia Dortmund, the great talent nurturers, had followed him for some time. So had Paris Saint-Germain, who wanted to buy back the player they released four years ago.

But Guendouzi only wanted Arsenal. Sven Mislintat and Unai Emery had both sought after him with their former employers, and when Arsenal first approached Lorient, the French side knew they were serious.

“Arsenal contacted us and it was very clear immediately he was a player they wanted to sign,” Lorient president Loic Fery remembers. “Once we had those clubs starting to be interested, we asked him where he wanted to go. He told me that Arsenal was his preference. He wanted to play in the Premier League and Arsenal would be great for him.”

Lorient were happy to sell him there. “One thing we don’t do at Lorient is let players who have such big potential go to clubs that are not top notch,” Fery says. “We definitely felt Arsenal would be a very good match for him.”

£7.5m later he was an Arsenal player and on Sunday Guendouzi made his Premier League debut at the Emirates against Manchester City. Up against the Premier League champions he looked out of place one moment then comfortably at home the next. He was brushed aside by Raheem Sterling for City’s first goal, but provided more midfield creativity than any of his team-mates. Assured and incisive in possession, he already looks like a more gifted deep-lying passer than Granit Xhaka.

It was a performance that underlined Guendouzi’s promise but also his lack of experience. He had only started four top flight games in his life before this one, and had never truly established himself in French senior football. And yet to speak to anyone who has worked with Guendouzi at Lorient is to hear of his unusual talent, and a temperament to match.

Lorient identified Guendouzi's talent from an early age (Loic Fery)

Guendouzi is not from Brittany but from Paris, from the suburb of Poissy, and he was in the PSG academy as a boy. But they released him at 14 and Lorient, who had just set up their own academy, picked him up. He quickly impressed with his natural ability on the ball, as well as his enthusiasm for the game. His gifted younger brother Milan soon followed. Like any very talented youngster, Matteo was the best player in every team he played in. “Each time he is tested at the upper level, at U16, U17, U19, each time it took him only a few times to become the boss of the team,” Fery remembers. Guendouzi inspired Lorient to win France’s under-17 tournament in 2015, a first for the club, and a vindication for signing him.