Mateo Guendouzi acknowledges Paris Saint-Germain interest

France youth international Mateo Guendouzi has acknowledged that Paris Saint-Germain were among the top sides vying for his signature before he decided to sign for Arsenal. The teenager was a relatively unknown when the Gunners pursued him from Lorient in the previous transfer window but he has since become a genuine favourite among the club’s faithful.

Speaking to Canal Football Club, Guendouzi has admitted that there was the option of heading to Paris with Les Parisiens during the summer but the prospect of joining the Gunners under Unai Emery was hard to refuse, he said: “[Emery] was definitely a reason why I went. It was him who really wanted me to come to Arsenal. He is a very good manager, we have done very good results since the beginning of the season with him.

“He doesn’t come across as feeling under particular pressure, he is just doing what he loves to do. He has transmitted that to us on the pitch and that is why we are getting the results we are getting. It is true that PSG were very interested, like other teams, there were a lot of discussions, but for me the best decision I could make was to join Arsenal.”

Guendouzi was impressive with his passing range during the club’s pre-season tour and this enabled him to command a starting role during the opening weeks of the campaign. Thereafter, he has been in-and-out of the starting lineup with the added competition from Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira and he has nonetheless impressed whenever he has featured for the north Londoners.

Guendouzi has started the previous two Premier League matches for the Gunners and he could now feature for them during the midweek Europa League outing against Qarabag. The Capital outfit are already through to the competition’s knockouts with the top spot and this should witness Emery try out some of the club’s young guns on Thursday night.