Arsenal summer signing Matteo Guendouzi has been praised by his manager and teammates alike after making an excellent, though somewhat unexpected, start to life with the Gunners.
The teenager was signed from Lorient as a prospect for the future, though has started all three of Arsenals Premier League matches this season – including Saturdays 3-1 victory over West Ham.
Manager Unai Emery admits he has been surprised by how easily Guendouzi has slotted in, while teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan says he did not even know who the youngster was before he joined.
It is a very big, positive surprise with him, said Emery of Guendouzi, who was subbed off for fellow summer recruit Lucas Torreira in the second half against West Ham.
He is improving. He is playing and working every day. He is hungry – he wants to improve, he wants to learn every day, every match.
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He is doing it his way, with character and quality. We are very happy with him but every match is a chance to show this progress with consistency.
Mkhitaryan has also been hugely impressed with the 19-year-old and believes he deserves his spot in the starting XI.
The Armenian told RMC Sport: To be honest, I had never seen this guy, I had heard about him but had never seen him play, so I was very impressed from the first training session.
I thought he has a lot of quality and he will bring good things to the club. If the coach took the decision to play him in the first match I agreed because he deserves it, we tried to help him.
He played very well the first two matches and we hope he will keep on giving positive performances.
More: Arsenal FC
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Arsenal summer signing Matteo Guendouzi has been praised by his manager and teammates alike after making an excellent, though somewhat unexpected, start to life with the Gunners.
The teenager was signed from Lorient as a prospect for the future, though has started all three of Arsenals Premier League matches this season – including Saturdays 3-1 victory over West Ham.
Manager Unai Emery admits he has been surprised by how easily Guendouzi has slotted in, while teammate Henrikh Mkhitaryan says he did not even know who the youngster was before he joined.
It is a very big, positive surprise with him, said Emery of Guendouzi, who was subbed off for fellow summer recruit Lucas Torreira in the second half against West Ham.
He is improving. He is playing and working every day. He is hungry – he wants to improve, he wants to learn every day, every match.
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More: Football
He is doing it his way, with character and quality. We are very happy with him but every match is a chance to show this progress with consistency.
Mkhitaryan has also been hugely impressed with the 19-year-old and believes he deserves his spot in the starting XI.
The Armenian told RMC Sport: To be honest, I had never seen this guy, I had heard about him but had never seen him play, so I was very impressed from the first training session.
I thought he has a lot of quality and he will bring good things to the club. If the coach took the decision to play him in the first match I agreed because he deserves it, we tried to help him.
He played very well the first two matches and we hope he will keep on giving positive performances.
More: Arsenal FC
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