Unai Emery eyes reunion with Matteo Guendouzi at Villarreal | OneFootball

According to Foot Mercato, former Arsenal boss Unai Emery is eyeing a reunion with midfielder Matteo Guendouzi after recently being appointed as the Villarreal manager.

The Spanish head coach was sacked by the Gunners in November 2019 after a run of seven games without a victory, but he has got the chance to continue his managerial career with the Yellow Submarines.

Guendouzi was a relatively unknown when he joined the Gunners from Lorient in the summer of 2018, but managed to feature regularly under Emery as he made 65 appearances in all competitions.

Since Emery’s departure, the young Frenchman has featured in another 17 games for the north London side, but he became completely out-of-favour under Mikel Arteta following the season restart last month.

The 20-year-old started in the Premier League defeats to Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion in June, but he was dropped after his poor behaviour at the Amex Stadium, where he was caught taunting the opposition regarding their wages.

On top of this, he was caught grabbing Neal Maupay by the neck in a brief moment after the full-time whistle and although, he escaped any punishment from the FA, he has been axed by Arteta from the matchday squad ever since.

It appears that there is no room for return for the France youth international and Foot Mercato claims that Emery would like to work alongside Guendouzi at Villarreal next season.

However, the Spanish outfit may only propose a season-long loan deal with the option to buy and it remains to be seen whether the Gunners are open to such an agreement.

Guendouzi, who has also been linked with Barcelona, was recently offered in a player-plus-cash deal for Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey, but the Spanish club snubbed the offer.

The FA Cup champions are still aiming to include him in a deal for one of their summer targets and that could hamper a reunion between Emery and Guendouzi, unless they are interested in taking someone from Villarreal.

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