Tottenham and Manchester City are among several clubs that are showing interest in French youngster Matteo Guendouzi, currently a part of FC Lorient.
According to Sky Sports, Tottenham and Manchester City are scouring the possibility to bring FC Lorient youngster Matteo Guendouzi to England. The former Paris Saint-Germain star, who currently plies his trade in Ligue 2, is on the radar of the Premier League duo after an impressive start to the 2017-18 campaign.
Guendouzi joined Lorient in 2014, exiting the PSG academy setup. And while the midfielder made his senior debut in the 2016-17 season, with 8 appearances to his name, it is it the present campaign that can be considered his true breakthrough campaign in the footballing world.
The 18-year-old has firmly established himself in Lorient’s midfield, with the holding midfielder already making 12 appearances this season – 10 of them in Ligue 2. Already a French Under-20 international, Guendouzi is now starting to draw interest from the bigger leagues, with Tottenham and Manchester City interested.
At Tottenham, lack of reinforcements in the summer seems to be showing its effect, with Spurs lacking depth in certain positions. As far as the midfield is concerned, despite the rise of Harry Winks, there is genuine concern regarding the succession plan for Mousa Dembele, who is already 30 and needs a long-term replacement.
Manchester City and Tottenham are both keen on 18-year old FC Lorient midfielder Matteo Guendouzi. pic.twitter.com/DfbrIHq3L9
— Tottenham Hotspur Insider (@julesbevis) December 13, 2017
Guendouzi is, hence, a viable target for Pochettino. The player is adept at playing the holding midfielder role and looks to be a bright prospect. Already playing senior football, Pochettino would hope to bring him in early and deputise him as Dembele’s backup, which would also aid Guendouzi as he could be the Belgian’s understudy for a year or two before finally replacing him.
Manchester City, on the other hand, could ideally be looking to reinforce their youth ranks after a sudden burst of ousts from their academy. Jadon Sancho led the charge and more players are expected to follow suit by the end of the season. Guendouzi would be a good addition to the setup.
However, as far as first-team chances are concerned, a move to Manchester City is unlikely to yield first-team game time as quickly as in Tottenham’s case. The perfect scenario could be a deal done between either club and Lorient which could ideally see the player play out the current season and if possible, the one after as well before joining the club.
This would not only ease Lorient’s headache of finding a replacement, but would also enable the player to get guaranteed first-team playing time, rather than joining either Tottenham or Manchester City and then finding himself being loaned out to a club of a stature similar to Lorient.
