Ex-Arsenal star showed 'warrior' spirit against Villa - now he can bring it to Villa Park

Arsenal fans will know exactly why their club's former boss wants to recruit the Frenchman - and Villans with a good memory will too.

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Since returning to Ligue 1 from Arsenal in 2021 on loan and then signing a permanent deal at the start of this season, the 23-year-old has scored nine goals and recorded a whopping 18 assists in 81 games.

It's a career back on the up after after a small detour.

The midfielder was pushed out of Arsenal following Emery's exit after he fell out favour with new manager Mikel Arteta.

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Due to a post-match altercation with then-Brighton player Neal Maupay, Guendouzi was excluded from Arsenal training and left out of the club's matchday squads due to a history of issues with his 'attitude and general conduct'.

But now, reports suggest that hasn't put Emery boss off of bringing the star he brought in at Arsenal to Villa Park.

And he's likely to be hoping Guendouzi will recreate the performance he put on against Villa when he played under him at the Emirates.

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Villa's trip to north London under Dean Smith near the beginning of the 2019/20 season wasn't due to be a feisty affair.

However the sides ended up producing one of the games of the season, as Emery's Arsenal came back twice to beat his future club - and Guendouzi was at the heart of the Gunners' fight back.

His performance even led him to be labelled as a 'warrior' by Premier League all-time top goalscorer Alan Shearer.

Arsenal had gone 1-0 down in the first half and their day got even worse when Ainsley Maitland-Niles got sent off for a second yellow card in the 41st minute.

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Granit Xhaka and Guendouzi both picked up a booking in that time, too, as they went into half-time seriously frustrated.

But rather than cower after the break, Arsenal managed to handle more pressure from the visitors before Guendouzi won the home side a penalty after Bjorn Engels shoved him over in the box.

After Nicolas Pepe converted the spot-kick to make it 1-1, though, Guendouzi's heroics were quickly undone as Wesley scored to make it 2-1.

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But despite having 10 men, Arsenal bounced back, with Guendouzi putting in a wicked cross for now-Villa defender Calum Chambers to send into the back of the net and bring them level again with ten minutes to go.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then completed the turnaround just minutes later, scoring straight from a free-kick and sending Arsenal into delerium.

But whilst the then-Gunners captain took the limelight with the winner, Guendouzi earnt plenty of praise for his help in the comeback.

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Speaking on Match of The Day after the game, ex-striker Shearer said: "This guy Guendouzi was absolutely magnificent in the second half, they needed a warrior and he stood up."

His stats for the game speak for themselves, too.

Guendouzi completed more passes (74), more final third passes (28) and made more ball recoveries (11) than any other player on the pitch.

If his performance against Villa just over three years ago is anything to go off, Emery is right to bring him in to push his new side's advance up the Premier League table.

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