Guendouzi seals loan move to Hertha Berlin

Matteo Guendouzi has sealed his loan move to Hertha Berlin.

The Frenchman will spend the 2020/21 campaign with the German side but they will not have an option or obligation to make the move permanent next summer. He will return to Arsenal with whom he will have just one year remaining on his contract.

The Gunners hope regular football and good performances will increase his value when they inevitably look to sell him permanently next year. Guendouzi signed for Arsenal for £7 million from Lorient in the summer of 2018 and became a regular in the first team under former head coach Unai Emery.

He continued to be a part of the side under current manager Mikel Arteta but had a number of run-ins with the Spaniard within his first few months in charge in North London.

Guendouzi had upset the Arsenal hierarchy with his poor discipline and conduct but an incident at Brighton in June sealed his fate. He had a meeting with the top brass which included Mikel Arteta where he was asked to apologise for his actions. He refused to do so and as a result, was frozen out of the first team.

He was not included in another matchday squad after that meeting and was made to train away from the first team or the last month of the previous campaign.

At the start of the 2020/21 season, Arteta said all his players would be given a clean slate and judged on their performances in training and on the field. Guendouzi did not play a single minute of football for Arsenal this season prior to his move to Germany.