Matteo Guendouzi’s career has seen a fair amount of ups and downs. His Lazio stint is proving to be the most fruitful spell in a while, and the Frenchman is making the most of it, showing the sort of quality that he always had.
Even in 2024, the reasons for Guendouzi leaving Arsenal remain shrouded in mystery. As part of Mikel Arteta’s project, Guendouzi wasn’t the only player from the previous era who was discarded quickly and fans are usually quick to think of the Frenchman’s fracas with Neal Maupay during Arsenal’s loss to Brighton as a reference point.
Guendouzi was soon loaned out to Hertha Berlin and was then sold to Marseille after an initial loan stint at the French side. He operated regularly in midfield for two seasons, impressing in all competitions in a box-to-box role in the heart of the park. His performances still weren’t quite getting acclaim globally despite him proving his worth – until now.
Lazio (finally) moved on from the mercurial Sergej Milinković-Savić in the summer and his sale turned heads. For a player who was constantly linked with some European powerhouses, a move to Al Hilal felt like a step down. If anything, it helped Lazio. The Serbian’s contract had only one year remaining on it and the Biancocelesti earned €40 million from a fairly lucrative sale. But the question that the sale posed was how they were going to replace him. After all, Milinković-Savić had been one of the most prolific goal contributors for the club over the last few seasons and his complete skill set helped Maurizio Sarri and Simone Inzaghi.
While numerous names were bandied about in what was another chaotic transfer window for the Roman club, Guendouzi became the midfielder who replaced Milinković-Savić. Daichi Kamada was also signed, but he was roped in amidst the expectation that even Luis Alberto would depart. While Kamada has failed to make any sort of mark, Guendouzi has replaced Milinković-Savić perfectly and has arguably been Lazio’s player of the season so far.
His excellence was on show when Lazio picked up a solid 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 of the Champions League in the first leg. The Frenchman played six passes into the final third, won six ground duels and made two successful tackles while also making four recoveries in what was a complete performance. And stats like those are becoming a habit for the 24-year-old, who has been a rare shining light in a frustrating campaign for the Biancocelesti.
While Milinković-Savić was more of an attacking weapon on the right side of the midfield three, Guendouzi has added some defensive steel in the heart of the park while using his extremely useful workrate to do the attacking work. He has only one goal and while that is something Milinković-Savić was an upgrade on, the Frenchman is in the 73rd percentile and 74th percentile, respectively, for possession won inside the final third, and for interceptions in Serie A.
And he also find himself in the final third a lot, as he is in the 79th percentile for touches in the opposition box, with his expected assists tally also at 75 percent so far in the season. He obviously isn’t the towering presence in midfield or around the box that Milinković-Savić was, but he is a livewire and that brings the added advantage of him often leading the Lazio press from the front whenever they push high up the pitch.
While Sarri has lauded Guendouzi for his pressing abilities and that makes him a sure-shot starter over Kamada, the Italian has also been a fan of the Frenchman’s keen defensive traits.
He told DAZN earlier in the season: “I remember him being a player of great intensity. He can also give us balance, because he has good defensive qualities too, so he can be extremely useful.”
That is pretty much why the 24-year-old is a valuable asset to the side. While Kamada has failed to settle in and could well leave after a solitary season, young Nicolo Rovella and compatriot Danilo Cataldi have operated fairly usefully in a deep midfield role. But Sarri recently spoke about a rather innate issue with how Luis Alberto operates. He told the press before the game against Bayern:
“Luis Alberto is our most attacking midfielder, he comes deeper to get the ball, he really likes to play the ball. Luis can’t be the attacking midfielder I want, I want an attacking midfielder who attacks spaces.”
That clearly suggests that Guendouzi is Sarri’s most preferred option for the midfield and he is offering the ex-Chelsea boss exactly what he wants with his profile. He offers them the balance that Milinković-Savić didn’t always provide and Sarri was vocal about that in 2021, as he stated that the duo of Luis Alberto and the now-Al Hilal man can’t play together and they could only operate with them against defensive sides.
Perhaps, Guendouzi has solved a headache for Sarri with his skillset. While Luis Alberto’s tendency to drop deeper in possession could yet pose problems, there are no issues with the Frenchman at all.
Discipline wise, things have already gotten better as Guendouzi has picked up one yellow card in the entire season, as he looks to shed his ‘problematic’ tag. He is still only 24 and still has a long way to go to fulfil his potential, despite having already played in four of Europe’s big five leagues. But as things stand, the future looks bright.
(Images from IMAGO)
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