Arsenal star was tipped for the top – but Brighton incident was beginning of the end

A promising Arsenal starlet's career never reached the same heights after an incident against Brighton

Matteo Guendouzi was once tipped to become a standout Arsenal player - but the reality of the midfielder’s career today is very different. Arsenal vs Brighton has become an emotional and at-times turbulent fixture for the Gunners in recent years.

As Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing side gear up for their trip to the south coast for their Premier League clash on Wednesday night, they may be reminded of how the Seagulls landed a devastating blow to their already fading title charge in May 2023. By beating the Gunners 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium, they effectively handed Manchester City the Premier League trophy.

Arsenal will hope to avoid any slip ups this time around in order to maintain their five point advantage at the summit, albeit with a game in hand over City. For that to happen, Arteta’s men will need to remain focused and calm, something they were guilty of not managing the very first time the Spaniard faced Brighton as Arsenal boss.

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In the second game of ‘Project Restart’, in Covid-disrupted 2020, Arsenal travelled to the Amex Stadium looking for their first win after the three month suspension of matches. Things started to go downhill at the end of the first half when Neal Maupay injured goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who needed to be stretchered off.

An enraged Guendouzi, then aged 21, marched over towards Maupay and grabbed him by the throat, which his fellow Frenchman reacted to by throwing himself to the ground. Guendouzi, dissatisfied with that alone, approached Maupay again after he had got up to brag about being on more money than the striker. The Gunners suffered a late 2-1 defeat.

It is believed that Arteta, still new to his role as head coach, took issue with his own player’s shameless behaviour afterwards. The Spaniard soon banished Guendouzi from first team training and the matchday squad as the remaining fixtures were played that summer.

The Gunners boss refused to go into detail as to why he was dropped. But, speaking years later, Guendouzi played down the importance of the incident, which marked the last time he played in an Arsenal shirt.

"Journalists used this excuse to say that we had a bad relationship and that's why I stopped playing and left Arsenal [the Maupay incident]," Guendouzi told BeIN Sports. "Not at all. It's a gesture like many on the pitch. There's a lot of tension sometimes, a lot of problems on the pitch. In any case, it has nothing to do with all that.

"It's true that I didn't have the best relationship with him. Beyond that, I always tried to work, always gave the maximum of myself in training and in matches. I still played a few matches with him, I still did great performances.

"He preferred other players and I respect that decision. That's why, afterwards, I also decided to leave because I was still young, I needed playing time to continue to progress. The most important thing when you're young is to play."

Despite his comments, the incident was clearly the final straw amid broader concerns Arteta already had over his attitude and discipline. After being made to train alone, loan spells at Hertha BSC and Marseille followed over the next two seasons for Guendouzi.

He made a permanent move to Marseille in the summer of 2022, becoming an important player for the Ligue 1 side in 2022/23, which earned him a senior call-up to the French national team. Guendouzi made the decision to leave Marseille in 2023 due to the instability at the top of the club, signing for Lazio.

The midfielder rarely strayed far from controversy across his time in France and his two-and-a-half seasons in Serie A, before signing for Turkish giants Fenerbahce in January 2026. Despite his impressive start in Turkey, the fact he is playing there at the age of 26 sums up a disappointing trajectory for a player who much was expected of in England after his early performances in red and white.

Guendouzi had made his £8million move to the Gunners in 2018. Then-head coach Unai Emery trusted him with 48 appearances in his debut season thanks to his work-rate, dynamism and passion, with the midfielder hitting peak form at the start of his second season.

Guendouzi impressed in home fixtures against Tottenham and Aston Villa during Emery's final few months in charge, delivering quality assists and being a bright spark in an otherwise torrid team.

Such displays had even led former Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas to heap praise on Guendouzi. The Spaniard tweeted in September 2019: "Gotta love Guendouzi. Can play good or not so good but always shows up in difficult moments at such a young age. Big future ahead of him at Arsenal."

Ex-Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal also later revealed Guendouzi was among the younger players he had backed to become crucial first-team figures. He said: "Guendouzi was a really good number six who ran a lot, and was very good with the ball. But he came in at a really difficult moment for the football club, when you look back."

Emery's sacking at the end of November 2019 set the wheels in motion for Guendouzi's decline at the club. Despite Arteta initially giving him a chance, the pair never quite clicked, with the player surely now ruing his absence from this current promising Arsenal squad.

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