Exclusive: Arsenal senior star 'unlikely to play again for club' after £30m offer tabled
Matteo Guendouzi may have played his last Arsenal game after Villarreal tabled a £30million loan-to-buy offer, Football Insider can reveal.
The Spanish club's new manager Unai Emery is keen on a reunion with the midfielder, 21, and has stepped up his pursuit after being given encouragement over a deal.
An Arsenal source has told Football Insider that Mikel Arteta has given the green light for Guendouzi to leave and he is "unlikely to play again for the club" after falling out of favour with the manager.
The fiery Frenchman has been frozen out of the senior set-up and was training away from the Arsenal first team after a falling out with Arteta.
This has paved the way for European clubs to make a move and Villarreal are leading the pursuit of the central midfielder.
They have offered to take him for the season with a view to a permanent deal next summer.
Arsenal are keen for there to be an obligation to buy Guendouzi at £30m rather than just an option at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
Arteta wants to sell the 11-times France Under-21 international this window to raise cash for new signings.
But letting him go temporarily would at least get him off the Arsenal wage bill and give the player the opportunity of regular game to enhance his value.
Arteta and senior Arsenal figures left fuming with the midfielder after he was embroiled in a scuffle with Neal Maupay following their 2-1 defeat to Brighton on June 20 and has given the green light for him to quit.
Emery - who was recently appointed as Villarreal's new manager - wants the Frenchman to join him at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
Guendouzi has made 82 appearances for the Premier League giants across two seasons, including 34 in 2019-20.