ARTETA'S FALLOUT: RéGIS LE BRIS WANTS MATTéO GUENDOUZI DESPITE PAST ATTITUDE ISSUES
Head Coach Régis Le Bris has contacted Lazio regarding a €25M January move for Mattéo Guendouzi, a player he previously coached at Lorient.
Régis Le Bris, the head coach for a Premier League team, first mentioned bringing back French player Guendouzi last month. They had worked together before at Lorient. Journalist Sacha Tavolieri is reporting that the team has now formally contacted Lazio about a possible deal in January.
Le Bris said in November, I worked with him at Lorient, so we keep in touch. Right now, it's too early to talk about any transfer in January, when he was initially asked about Guendouzi.
Guendouzi, who is now 26, moved to Lazio in Italy after leaving Marseille. Before that, he played 103 games for Marseille after being initially loaned from Arsenal. This season, he has played 13 times in Serie A and scored twice. Lazio values him at around €25m.
His value was once at £45m when Unai Emery was his coach at Arsenal. But it dropped quickly after Arteta took over.
After arriving in London, Guendouzi played 48 games in his first season and played in every league game during Emery’s second season. But once Arteta became coach in December 2019, his role decreased. He only played a full 90 minutes three times under Arteta and was left out of the squad for the final eight league games of the season.
The breaking point happened in June 2020 at Brighton after Arsenal lost 2-1. Guendouzi argued with Neal Maupay after the game and was accused of taunting Brighton players about their salaries, though this was never officially proven.
A source at the Daily Mail said, He was saying the Brighton players were rubbish and that he and his teammates earn much more than they ever will. Arsenal is a good club and doesn't like that kind of behavior.
There had already been some tension. David Ornstein reported that there was an argument during training in Dubai, which led to Guendouzi being disciplined by Arteta and Edu. His behavior off the field was also questioned.
He never played for Arsenal again.
Arteta often spoke about his strict standards, and Guendouzi’s attitude towards authority had been questioned before in France. Jérémie Aliadière, a former Arsenal and Lorient player, told Le Télégramme, After my last season in Lorient, when he started training and playing with us, I wondered about his attitude. I thought he might need to change a bit.
His loan to Hertha Berlin also got mixed reviews. The coach at the time, Pál Dárdai, said, It's like he's going through puberty; he's a bit of a rebel. He needs to work hard and learn. But Hertha's sporting director, Arne Friedrich, praised his attitude: He's a great player. He’s very calm. He wants the ball all the time, even when he’s under pressure.
Guendouzi later admitted that he made mistakes while working with Arteta, but he doesn't regret his time in England. He told The Athletic, I didn’t work with Arteta much, only for six months. I was 19, so I was learning every day. I wouldn’t make the same mistakes now that I did when I was 19.
He added, I don't regret anything I did at Arsenal. I was 19, and I played 85 games in two years. That's a lot of games for a big club like Arsenal.
SUNDERLAND CONDEMNS "VILE" RACIST ABUSE AIMED AT BRIAN BROBBEY AFTER SPURS WIN
Brian Brobbey targeted online! Sunderland and the Premier League unite against "vile" discrimination after Spurs win.
Sunderland called out the racist abuse aimed at Brian Brobbey on social media and made it clear they stand fully behind him.
Brobbey was targeted online right after Sunderland’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. On Monday, the club released a statement: “Sunderland condemns in the strongest possible terms the racist abuse directed at Brian Brobbey on social media following Sunday’s fixture against Tottenham. We stand firmly with Brian and offer him our full and unwavering support.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Sunderland players have had to deal with this kind of abuse this season. After February’s match against Fulham, Romaine Mundle received hateful messages online, and last month the Tyne-Wear derby had to be paused when someone in the crowd reportedly aimed abuse at Lutsharel Geertruida.
The club’s statement continued: “This isn’t an isolated event. The recent abuse aimed at Romaine Mundle and Lutsharel Geertruida shows just how often and how unacceptably this keeps happening, both at matches and on the internet. We’ve reported this latest incident to the Premier League, the social media platforms, and the police, and we expect them to act quickly against the people responsible. Racism is vile, and it doesn’t belong in football or anywhere else. We’ll keep calling it out, clearly and without hesitation, every time it happens. Football should be safe and welcoming for everyone, no exceptions.”
The Premier League is backing Brobbey as well. In a post on their X account, they said they’re “disgusted by the ongoing discrimination” players keep facing online. “We stand alongside Sunderland in strongly condemning the online racist abuse Brian Brobbey has received and have offered our full support to him and the club. We are disgusted by the ongoing discrimination players are facing on social media and are committed to working with clubs, authorities, law enforcement, and social media companies to address this issue, as well as supporting investigations to bring those responsible to justice.
Anyone found guilty of discrimination will face the toughest possible punishments: jail time, football bans, and even a criminal record.”
DAVID MOYES REVEALS "NERVES" AS EVERTON HUNT HISTORIC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION SPOT
David Moyes admits Everton's Champions League hunt is nerve-wracking. See the latest on the Toffees' battle for Europe.
David Moyes admits the idea of Everton making the Champions League this soon in their rebuild actually makes him “shake a wee bit.”
You look at the club now, and it's hard to believe where they were just 14 months ago. When Moyes returned, Everton looked beaten down from years of fighting to stay up. Suddenly, with only seven games left, they’re sitting eighth. That spot could mean Europa Conference League football, but after their win against Chelsea before the break, they’re now just three points off fourth. It’s wild to even talk about the Champions League, but it’s right there in reach.
Reporters put the question to him how does it feel to be this close? With Europe’s spots possibly extending down to fifth (or maybe even further, depending on how other English clubs do), Moyes wasn’t hiding his nerves: “It’s probably the best shot we’ve had in a long time. But when I hear ‘Champions League’? Makes me shake a wee bit, honestly. I’ve been lucky to manage in Europe’s other competitions lately, and if we do make it, I’m sure we’d be able to hold our own at certain stages. Still, the Champions League is just on another level.”
Everton’s next match at Brentford looks huge for their European dreams. Brentford beat them earlier in the season, and right now, both teams are level, separated only by goal difference.
Moyes is clearly enjoying this chapter. “Listen, Europe’s Europe. If someone had said at the start, ‘You’re going to get European football,’ we’d have snapped their hand off. It could be the tiddlywinks European cup, and we’d be up for it. Evertonians want the club back in those conversations. We’re getting attention for the new stadium, we’ve got a couple of England internationals getting noticed more, it’s a good time. If we do sneak into the Champions League, it’d be an unbelievable achievement. But honestly, no matter which competition we make, it’s still a big step forward for us.”
