Arsenal outcast Matteo Guendouzi is set to leave the Emirates for a loan move to Bundesliga. The French midfielder will reportedly join Hertha Berlin this week as talks between the Gunners and the German side have reached an advanced stage. The transfer will be finalized before the close of the summer transfer window.
The switch came as discussions on Guendouzi's reported move to Paris Saint-Germain or Marseille failed to materialize in the past. The 21-year-old was dropped from the Arsenal squad by manager Mikel Arteta following a fight with Brighton striker Neal Maupay in June.
Guendouzi had refused to apologize for his actions, which prompted Arteta to exile the player from the first-team. The midfielder was not seen on Arsenal games since and speculations of his exit from the Emirates have since emerged.
According to Goal, the stories will prove correct just before the transfer window comes to a close on October 5. Arsenal will be sending Guendouzi to Berlin this week on a free transfer move, which appeared to underscore Arteta's intent to see the player go, at least temporarily.
The arrangement with Hertha will see the receiving club paying the Frenchman's salary during his one-season stay in Germany. It seemed to be the compromise reached as Arsenal signed off Guendouzi without collecting a transfer fee.
Metro said the Arsenal man rose from oblivion when he joined in under the watch of Unai Emery, who acquired the youngster from Lorient for just under £8 million. Guendouzi made a name for himself with Emery's guidance and was regarded as a rising star in football.
But his run-ins with Arteta put a snag on his Arsenal career. An earlier spat with the Spanish boss during a warm training in Dubai saw Guendouzi falling out of favor, which led to the midfielder losing playing minutes in the second half of the last season.
It was the fight with Maupay that sealed Guendouzi's exit from the Gunners' squad. In the aftermath of that episode, the Frenchman was ordered to train on his own. He was never deployed in Arsenal games afterward and was only reintegrated into the team at the start of the new campaign.
There talks in the past weeks that Guendouzi could regain a spot in the Arsenal squad with Arteta himself indicating that the Frenchman will be given a chance to prove his worth.
"It is a new season and we had some really positive conversations between both parties, now he's back with the group, he is training really well," the Arsenal boss was reported as saying.
It turned out though that Guendouzi will need to impress on a loan spell but it is understood that the deal with Hertha does not include an option to buy, somehow suggesting that the young player still has a window open for a return to Arsenal.
