Matteo Elias Kenzo Guendouzi Olié (; born 14 April 1999) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and the France national team.

Club career

Early career

Guendouzi started his career at the academy of

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

at the age of 6. He left Paris to join

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

's academy in 2014. After representing the Lorient reserve team, he was promoted to the first team in 2016.

Lorient

Guendouzi made his debut for Lorient on 15 October 2016, in the

match against Nantes in a 1–2 defeat. He played nine times in all competitions, during his debut season of 2016–17 as Lorient were relegated to the second tier at the end of the season. In the 2017–18 season, Guendouzi featured 21 times for

as they missed out on promotion, finishing seventh in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

Arsenal

On 11 July 2018, during the summer transfer window, it was announced that Guendouzi had joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £7m plus bonuses. Head coach

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

said: "He is a talented young player and a lot of clubs were interested in him. He has big potential and gained good first-team experience last season with Lorient. He wants to learn and improve and will be an important part of our first-team squad". On 12 August 2018, Guendouzi made his

debut in Arsenal's opening fixture of the season against defending Champions

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

where he made 72 touches, the most for his team. They lost the match 0–2. Guendouzi scored the first professional goal of his career on 4 October 2018, rounding off the scoring in Arsenal's 3–0 away win over Qarabağ, a low drive from just inside the penalty area, after an assist from

Alexandre Lacazette Alexandre Lacazette (born 28 May 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for and is the captain of club Lyon. He plays mainly as a striker but has also been deployed as a second striker and wide forward. Lacazette b ...

. On 29 May 2019, Guendouzi came off the bench in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

final against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, in which Arsenal eventually lost 1-4. On 20 June 2020, following a post-match altercation with

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

player

Neal Maupay Neal Maupay (born 14 August 1996) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Brentford on loan from Everton. Maupay started his career with Nice and was a France youth international. He is eligible to ...

, Guendouzi was excluded from Arsenal training and left out of the club's match-day squads due to a history of issues with his "attitude and general conduct."

Loan to Hertha BSC

On 5 October 2020, Arsenal announced that Guendouzi would be loaned out to

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

for the duration of the 2020–21 season. On 1 November 2020, Guendouzi made his debut in a 1–1 draw against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. On 12 December 2020, he scored his first goal for the club and in the Bundesliga against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

, the game ended in a 1–1 draw.

Marseille

On 6 July 2021, it was announced that Guendouzi was loaned out to Ligue 1 club

for the

2021–22 Ligue 1 The 2021–22 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 84th season since its establishment. It began on 6 August 2021 and concluded on 21 May ...

season. The deal included an option-to-buy depending on certain conditions being met. He enjoyed a good start to his Marseille career, quickly gaining the appreciation of fans through both his play, and his personality in standing up for the team - including during a match against

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, when he protected team-mate

Dimitri Payet Dimitri Payet (; born 29 March 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Marseille. A set-piece specialist, known for his accurate, bending free kicks, he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, and is described a ...

from fans who rushed onto the pitch, gaining strangle marks on his neck in the process. On 1 July 2022, it was confirmed that Marseille had activated the option-to-buy clause for a reported £9 million.

International career

Guendouzi was born in a suburb of Paris, France. He has represented France at levels up to France U20s. With partial Moroccan heritage, Guendouzi was approached by

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

manager

Hervé Renard Hervé Jean-Marie Roger Renard (born 30 September 1968) is a French professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Saudi Arabia national team. Renard has previously been the manager of Zambia national team, with whom ...

in 2017 to change allegiances to play for the Morocco national team. However, after Guendouzi's father met Renard in March 2017, Guendouzi decided to remain and pledge allegiance to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 2 September 2019, Guendouzi was called up to the French senior side for the first time to replace the injured

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, de ...

for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

. However, he was an unused substitute in both matches. Guendouzi was recalled to the France side on 1 September 2021, to replace the injured

Corentin Tolisso Corentin Tolisso (born 3 August 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the France national team. A graduate of the Lyon academy, Tolisso made his professional debut for the club in ...

for World Cup Qualification matches against Bosnia, Ukraine and Finland. He made his debut on 16 November 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. On 29 March 2022, he scored his first goal for France in a 5–0 friendly win over

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Personal life

Matteo Guendouzi has a Moroccan father and French mother. He has a brother called Milan, who is also a footballer. Guendouzi is married to Mae and the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, in May 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Guendouzi goal''

Honours

Arsenal *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

runner-up: 2018–19 France *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

runner-up:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guendouzi, Matteo 1999 births Living people People from Poissy Footballers from Yvelines French footballers Association football midfielders FC Lorient players Arsenal F.C. players Hertha BSC players Olympique de Marseille players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players Bundesliga players France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Nations League-winning players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French sportspeople of Moroccan descent