Unai Emery admits he has been surprised by impact of Arsenal midfielder

The player has featured in all the three Premier League fixtures

Arsenal completed the signing of 19-year-old Matteo Guendouzi from Lorient last month. He signed for a fee reportedly around €8 million plus bonuses.

The Midfielder was the Gunners fifth signing this summer under new manager Unai Emery, after securing the services of Stephan Lichtsteiner , Bernd Leno and Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Lucas Torreira.

The France under 20 International started his career with PSG before moving to Lorient in 2014 and made breakthrough with them in 2016 but the club was relegated that season. Though the player impressed in Ligue 2 last season, making 21 appearances in all competitions which attracted attention of host of clubs.

He has featured in the all the club’s opening 3 Premier League fixtures and been one of the most eye-catching players for his side. After losing 2 consecutive matches against Chelsea and Manchester City, the London Outfit won their first match of the campaign against West Ham United on Saturday.

Unai Emery has admitted that Guendouzi has come as a very big, positive surprise at the club and insisted that he wasn’t expecting such rapid progress. He also revealed deal to sign him was one driven by the existing staff of the club rather than him.

“It is a very big, positive surprise with him,” the 46 year old said as quoted by Goal. “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. 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.”

“The club had worked and watched him, we agreed and when he arrived here – not the first day, which was very difficult – but after two weeks we spoke and said: ‘His performance is a very big surprise’. In each training session and match we need him to show this progress consistently,” he added.

“Today, he is progressing like the first two weeks, very positive.”