Video: Guendouzi on Lazio love, his other sport and iconic haircut | OneFootball

Matteo Guendouzi reveals how he almost took up a very different sport to football, why he’ll never change his iconic haircut and expects Nuno Tavares to keep getting better at Lazio.

The midfielder made the move to the Stadio Olimpico initially on loan from Olympique Marseille in 2023, then completed the transfer for a total €14m plus bonuses.

He sat down with the Lega Serie A for a long chat about his career and the path that took him to this line of work.

“When I was little, I used to combine two sports, as my father was a karate instructor, but I chose to carry on with football because I got a place at an academy,” said Guendouzi.

“I think karate really helped me in terms of my mentality, as it is often about one-on-one battles. It helped me forge a strong mentality and taught me a lot of values.”

Guendouzi committed to Lazio and his style

Matteo Guendouzi of SS Lazio and Paulo Dybala of AS Roma (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

The France international is best known for his curly hair and revealed why he never wants to get rid of this iconic style.

“I’ve had this hairstyle since I was a kid and I do not intend to change it. This is part of me, and I know some don’t like it, but I don’t pay attention to that. My family like it and that’s all that matters.”

Guendouzi admits he was won over by the ‘love’ shown by the Lazio supporters and is eager to repay them for their passion.

He also reunited with former Olympique Marseille teammate Nuno Tavares this season.

“I know him very well, he has remarkable quality and in my view is still not at 100 per cent after the injury he sustained. He is fundamental for us and is having a great campaign.”

Lazio have been through a lot of changes recently, going from Maurizio Sarri to Igor Tudor and now Marco Baroni.

“Every coach has his ideas and they can be very different. Sarri was focused on possession and quality, we played a more direct and vertical type of football with Tudor, so they were diametrically opposing views.

“Now with Baroni there is a third way, we try to play out from the back and use the wide men to get lots of crosses into the box, but still keep a good amount of possession,” concluded Guendouzi.

“It’s only been a few months, but I think we’ll have a great season with Baroni, we like his philosophy of football.”