Arsenal set to make the right decision with Matteo Guendouzi

Matteo Guendouzi has had a very good first season in the Premier League and been one of the few midfielders at Arsenal that have had a positive campaign.

Therefore it is only right that he is being rewarded with a tasty new deal doubling his weekly salary to £75,000-a-week.

Guendouzi, 20, only cost us £8 Million but is now valued at £65 Million and there is a very good reason for that, he is a bloody good player for his age.

He is as fit as a fiddle having played 47 times for us this season, he has not missed a game through injury and been suspended just the once.

His value to us has clearly been recognised by the club and that is why it was imperative to agree on new terms with the youngster because you can be assured that he has come to the notice of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Not only will he get a significant pay rise but his new deal will see him contracted to us until 2023, so it is a win-win for both the player and for the club.

It makes perfect sense that Arsenal is now moving to tie our better players down to new deals. Reports this week have intimated that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are to be offered deals worth £250k per week and it seems that the club is making sure that the core players are stable and happy with their contracts.

We do need to get our wage bill under control and we have started that process, Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck have been removed from the books which has freed money up for these new deals as well as money for new players salaries.

These are positive developments and very much welcomed.

65 Comments

  1. Guendouzi to be offered 75k per week? Pardon me, is this reasonable or sensible in any way? Yes he’s a golden boy, one for the future, but after one year, we are raising his salary to 75k per week already?
    Aye! Arsenal FC, do we ever do things without complicating stuffs? Sorry, he might not be receiving 200k per week, but offering such a raise after just one year is beyond me, what next? Iwobi gets another raise next season? Iwobi to get 150k? Bellerin to get 200k?

    1. Eddie, the same old, same old at the Emirates. His wages need to be compared to comparable players at other clubs. Too much money, too soon.

      1. Ozziegunner, a very valid point, but we surely need to know what makes up this reported salary?
        This is my bone of contention when discussing anyone’s salary.
        It also makes it nigh on impossible to compare contracts and salaries of other clubs and in fact, when someone tries to guess these things, it always causes controversy and resentment.

        1. Fair comment, ken; however I am looking at it from the same perspective as Serbian Gunner below.

      2. OK then, Erikson is earning 70.000. Do we give to the boy the same wages? I mean, come on “what are they smoking at the Emirates?”

        1. We have the worst contract negotiators, I thought the problem lay with Gazidis and Wenger but clearly not. It is for these silly wages that we can not move any of our dead weight on. I thought that the powers that be would have learned their lesson but clearly not. I like Guendouzzi but he’s not to the level of Mathijs de Ligt or de Jong nor van de Beek and I am pretty sure that neither one of those boys earn 40k pounds a week let alone 75k.
          Why do they want to renew the contracts of Auba and Laca either when they still have a good 3 years to run on them?
          Our backroom staff is exasperating.

  2. Hopefully the other youngsters would be inspired by Guendouzi’s success and work hard to earn more lucrative contracts

    Arsenal also need to make sure Ozil, Mustafi and Mkhitaryan are sold in the summer. Because their contract will expire in 2021 and they block the youngsters from moving up the ladder

    I think this is gonna be an interesting transfer window, because Arsenal have to replace some players

      1. How will we move either of the guys you mentioned on when they earn way above what they are actually worth?
        We are now looking to do the very same thing with Guendouzzi after just 10 months on the job and he still has a good 36 months on his current contract.

  3. Now watch his development grind to a halt before the vitriol undoubtedly turns against him after he concedes the umpteenth foul in or just outside the box…
    You only have to look down the road. Harry Winks isn’t even on that much, yet we’re going to reward, thus stunt the development of, some kid who had One “good” season with us, and even the definition of good varies among the supporters here.

    1. In fairness, the definition of good always varies among our standards in here. Even when a player is in top form, form which would be excellent by any other PL clubs standards, it will still vary quite a bit in here.

  4. matteo deseves an increament, no suspensions, no INURIES, one of the best tackler, improvement in passing accuracy,……. PSG want to splash money on him!!!
    Better than retaining injury prone stars like ramsey, welbeck,
    THE LAD IS GOING FAR.
    This move is the best to tie him at home&alleviete the attention from other clubs.

    1. Well said. It’s a good move by the club and with new contracts in the offing for Laca and Auba , Arsenal is good to go unto the next level.

  5. 1 decent year doesn’t warrant £75k a week, he hasn’t had a great season, a slightly better than average… Is that worth £75k a week?

    I’m glad we got Guendouzi, he isn’t worth that money though! He has so much to learn still, he hasn’t shown that this is more than a single decent season, we need to ensure he has more than a single good season before offering that kinda money.

  6. We have enough funds to buy players for next season from the Premier league price money. Somebody please let me know if am right.

    Arsenal
    Actual league position: 5th
    Matches televised: 25
    TV income: £29million
    Prize money: £30.4million
    Equal share: £79.4million
    Total: £138.8million

      1. And yet, Liverpool (who finished some 27 points ahead of us) have around £10 million less to pay in salaries..

        Makes you realise what a bunch of overpaid, under-achievers we have?

  7. I actually thought he started brighter in the early stages of the season and got progressively worse. I guess you can put it down to the physical and busy nature of the ELP so I am willing to cut him some slack (for now). He has the passion and heart for sure. He certainly has an eye for a good pass too. I don’t begrudge him his pay rise as long as he continues to develop next year into the regular that sees Xhaka demoted to the bench. I’m not sure what Xhaka gets but I would rather see Guendouzi in the starting eleven for his £75K!!!

    Xhaka can clean his boots as far as I’m concerned..

    1. Xhaka is one of those Wenger mysteries. When the team had been screaming for a DM for almost a decade and Kante, player of the year was available for less money, he went with Xhaka.

      Guendouzi was overplayed imho, I think if Bellerin wasnt hurt and AMN had the same amount of time in the middle of the pitch, he would have become the first name on the team sheet.

      I really think AMN has been extremely unlucky so far, by now he could’ve become a beast of a CM.

      1. I hear ya JimBeam! Being honest, in my assessment I failed to understand quite a few of Wenger’s buys over the last 10 years of his service. Not worth going through too many of the individual players because there were so many duds. Xhaka fits in well with them!

        I can only guess he thought he would mould into a “Viera” figure some day?

        Nope..

      2. Why do people keep insisting AMN is a CM? At Ipswich and in his few u23 appearances for the club he hardly ever played there, he nearly always played as a winger, hence his current transition to wing back is more accustomed. I would love to see the stats on how many matches he has actually played and in what position. Forget anything from U18 downwards, because that is all about development and finding out which role suits him best. Isn’t rather strange that experienced coaches like wenger, emery, McCarthy, getting and a few others think he is not a central midfielder, yet some “fans” who have probably never seen him train or play in central midfield think he could be the new vieria???

  8. Hopefully this is not true. He’s not really done anything to deserve double the wages. He’s had an okay first season, but nothing to indicate he will be world class in the future. I feel like he’s been hyped to an extraordinary degree because of his age, and because he was relatively unknown. For a 19 year old playing in EPL for the first time he’s done well for himself, but to already get that big of an increase for just one season is pretty ridiculous. And for a club trying to decrease its wage bill, it’s almost laughable.

    1. Exactly!!! Take away his age from the equation and you realize there is absolutely nothing unique about Guendouzi. Such an overhyped and overrated player it’s unbelievable.

      1. If PSG wanted to take him next season, and he hasn’t improved I would have no problem with it. 70mill in the bank for an average player is the way I see it. That money could be used to improve our squad greatly. I can’t name a single attribute he has that really stands out and makes him so highly rated. He’s a fine player for somebody so young, but I have yet to see what makes him so special. I wouldn’t rate him over somebody like Tom Davies.

        1. Haha I assure you @RSH, a journalist with nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon pulled that £65M valuation story straight from his backside. Nobody is paying £6.5M for Guendouzi leave alone £65M!

      2. Why would you take his age out the equation for?that,s silly,the reason his valuation is high is exactly partly of his age( potential to improve and resale value),

  9. When the Guendouzi bubble bursts (and it will) you can bet I will be here with my pitchfork baying for his blood. I have seen enough of him and I can say without a shred of doubt in my mind he is absolute garbage, nowhere near Arsenal quality. Then again, we’ve been finishing 5th and 6th and thereabout so maybe he is Arsenal quality!

    1. Judge him this time next year and see if he was worth it! You don’t know for sure if the bubble will burst. He did start bright this season. I was quite impressed with him initially. Give him time!

      Is he worth £75K a week? Lets find out!

      1. I’m more inclined to think like Quantic Dream on the subject of Guendouzi but i’m willing to give a 19 year old the benefit of the doubt and give him time to develop.

        For the quality he brings to the pitch he was way overplayed imho, but let’s not forget the alternatives were Elneny, and Xhaka.
        Still like i said above, if AMN did not have to cover for Bellerin and had as much playing chance in the middle as Guendouzi did, we would have had a beast of a CM at them moment.

    2. “I will be there with my pitchfork baying for his blood”
      Says a lot about someone of your mentality!
      In the normal world you would be charged with promoting violence.

      1. In the normal world judges are not idiots like you who wouldn’t recognize figurative speech even if it took a bat and whacked you in the face with it.

        1. Try using plain English then rather than figurative speech.
          Instead of normal world I should have said civilised world!
          Oh, and figuratively speaking, you could try but you wouldn’t get very far……

  10. guendouzi is a great kid, what ever the management decides about his increment is ok but we should not compare him to xhaka, he(xhaka) has improved under emery in different areas and thats good for the team, difensively, winning takles and moving the ball forward so lets encourage him

  11. This is the problem at Arsenal. Overpaying players.
    Alright players being given massive over the top contracts. I like Guendouzi but £75,000 a week for what after a very average first season.
    ?‍♂️

  12. I like Guendouzi, but to say he’s valued at 65m, well that just proves the world has gone bonkers!!
    He had some good games, as well as some very average ones… there’s definitely room for improvement! He’s only young though & with his first season in the PL under his belt, I’m hoping he goes from strength to strength.
    As.for the money – sheesh! I thought we were supposed to be lowering our wage bill!! I cannot believe the amount we shell out each week in wages – mind boggling!!

    1. Jesus! This club must have some of the most miserable, ignorant and pathetic fans! A 19 Year old player plucked from French second tier, who has done well considering the physicality of the league, is begrudged increase in wages, unbelievable!

      1. call us miserable all you want. Fact remains this is the same club that bemoans its high wage bill, yet is offering 75k to an average youngster for having an average season. We’re just looking at the facts here and the strategy does not make sense. Waiting another year before increasing his wages, or even until December, would make way more sense. There is zero pressure to sky rocket his wages already.

      2. and zero goals, zero assists for him as well, and he is hardly Iniesta level of skill to get away with that.

  13. I ❤ Guendouzi. Very good player for his age. Certainly better than Eleny, Xhaka in my opinion

    He did an excellent job for his age
    He made mistakes but he is young and inexperienced
    He will definitely improve

    I would say he’s my 4th favourite Arsenal player
    1. Aubameyang
    2. Lacazette
    3. Torreira
    4. Guendouzi
    5. Koscielny

  14. QD perhaps you could enlighten those of us who regard Guendousi highly, why you consider him to be “absolute garbage”.Are you a font of knowledge with an in depth understanding of professional football greater than that of his Manager, his National team Manager and virtually every respected journalist and pundit ,not forgetting the vast majority of rational Arsenal fans?.Perhaps you could explain why we are all mistaken?

    1. The guys positional play is extremely poor, he makes up for this with effort and passion, that won’t last long though, he’s made several key errors which have lead to goals this season. Don’t get me wrong the guys a work horse and I rate him. But he has ALOT to learn. Would I sell him for 70 million and invest that into what’s likely to be 50-60mill TF budget, without a shadow of a doubt. Will that happen…No.

    2. @Grandad
      Before we get into it though, do pundits watch all our games? Coz I do. Anyway here goes, since the great Guendouzi is so hyped, lets see how he compares with proper midfielders we have had before who actually deserved the hype.
      Player unique skills
      Ramsey- goal scoring
      Fabregas – eagle vision and defence-spliting passes
      Nasri – ability to run rings around opposition players
      Cazorla – ability to get out of tight spaces and hold ball
      under pressure, ambidextrous, shooting, pass,
      scoring.
      Wilshere – ability to drive through midfield, killer pass
      Ozil – vision, accurate pass.
      Guendouzi- ??? Diving, crying to the referee for assistance,
      backwards pass king, catching the ball before
      ref blows whistle, headless chicken, sluggish
      passing. No unique skills to warrant all the hype
      he gets.
      We will never get back to the top as long as we keep accumulating mediocre midfielders like Guendouzi and Xhaka.

      1. All the players you mentioned I don’t recall any of them being fit, let alone fit enough to play 47 matches in their debut season in a foreign league.

        Sure the rise might be too soon, but the club has a new contract policy, so let’s see how it pans out. If we get our core players on longer contracts, not leaving us with a load of injury prone or 30+ players in their last year I’m all for it. Cech, lichsteiner, Ramsey Suarez and Welbeck are confined as leaving none of them need to be replaced as we have Martinez or ospina, AMN, Willock, Nelson, ESR, Nelson and Nketiah to replace them and the whole lot are probably earning about what Ramsey was getting. The big decisions for me is who we are selling/buying, the decision to offer our two best players and another who has proved his fitness and ability to work alongside such talent is a no brainer.

        1. Is that it? Playing 47 games in a season in a foreign league? Is that what makes Guendouzi unique and warrants all this hype and praise? If so then our standards have greatly deteriorated am afraid!

          1. Guendouzi has vision as shown when he threads passes through the lines. He is good at switching play from one side to the other with accurate crosses. He wins and recovers the ball well. He is mobile. He is good at sudden changes of pace and direction that leaves his marker and makes him free to advance with the ball.

            Certainly he has flaws as expected from a teenager and new to the league. He does have tendency to be ball watching and lose his man on occasion when the ball is going past him. His diving is also something that needs to be adressed.

            1. We are “all” in agreement of his potential and a good start to life in the EPL. How does that warrant a contract renewal and 75% wage increase is the bit most of us are baffled on and it is silly considering that we should be lowering our wages so that we can offload non-performing players in the long run without losing money and we all know that money is tight at the Emirates.
              Let’s consider that Guendouzzi doesn’t improve doesn’t drastically improve over the next 2 seasons and then the club looks to sell him on. Who do you think will take him at 75k pounds a week? This is the exact problem we currently have right now with Ozil, Mkhi, Xhaka, Mustafi and El Neny.

  15. How sad to see people calling themselves fans who can,t wait to see our players fail!

  16. Guendouzi is overrated. In the games he started, we struggled to dominate the midfield. He is lethargic and takes too many touches before releasing the ball for my liking. Of course there is room for involvement but sadly, I do not think we can pin our hopes on him just yet. I would even wish we tried AMN as a box to box mid as he seems more talented, faster and can dictate the tempo.

  17. I’ve got no problem with it as long long as the club fine him e £75k everytime he flops under the slightest of touches and grabs the ball before a foul is called. Does my head in!

    Having said that, he’s clearly got talent but not sure why the rush to give him more money at such a young age.

  18. It’s wonderful how we easily talk down on our young players. It was Iwobi now is Guendozi, next it could AMN or any of the young lads. Imagine people saying he has no talent at all. Most of us deserve these underperforming below average senior players. Who should be mentoring these young players but are even putting in worst performances than the younger ones

  19. Guendouzi is now worth £65M !!!
    We should sell him and use the money to bribe the officials in the Champions League Final to make sure the Spuds are humiliated !………………it will save me having to book into a Swiss Euthanasia clinic !

  20. What many critics miss is the fact that the contract will run up to 2023. This means that we shall have insulated ourselves against any hike in saiary for 4 years. Isn’t that good planning? If you look at today without considering the future you are bound to make a wrong conclusion.

      1. His current contract will only expire in 2022, so what is the rush in extending by 12 more months at a 75% wage hike? How much will he be offered the next time we renew his deal, 150k pounds a week sounds about right?

  21. QD.Thank you for reiterating your views.We will have to agree to differ on this one.For one so young I feel Guendouzi has had a very good first season and I hope he goes on to prove you wrong in the seasons ahead.

  22. It’s actually just 2 years. In 2021 his contract has to be reviewed and he either has to be sold or sign a new contract to avoid running his current one down and losing him for nothing. Does anyone know how long his current contract was for? Just curious as I also don’t understand the haste to hand him such a significant hike in wages. I can already see maitland-Niles having a problem with it, he’s offered much more to the team this past season

  23. love him or hate him, Guendouzi is still very young and the premiership is not an easy league to impress in on your first season, what I like about him is his hunger for the ball, yes his distribution can be lacking and he can lose the ball in possession,but he does not hide he is always willing to receive it , he will improve for that season under his belt and with Emery and his staff guiding him, give the lad a chance QD its not easy for a youngster to get into a prem 1st team squad, he will improve with games.

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