Mattéo Guendouzi open to Marseille return | OneFootball

It’s been over a year since Mattéo Guendouzi (25) said goodbye to the Stade Vélordome for Italy, but a return to his former club is not out of the question.

The 2022 World Cup runner-up with France played three seasons at Olympique de Marseille before joining Lazio in Serie A, originally on a loan deal at the end of August 2023.

Back in April of this year, the club from Rome decided to activate Guendouzi’s conditional buyout clause to retain his services. By the looks of things, however, the 2019-20 FA Cup winner at Arsenal still has a soft spot for his old club, Les Phocéens.

Speaking to Free Foot the Paris-born midfielder had this to say about OM: “A return to Marseille? It could be a great opportunity in the future. It’s a club that I have in my heart, everyone knows that. I spent two beautiful seasons there. I would have liked to win a trophy for the fans, for the club, because they deserve it and I hope that they will win, either this season or in the future.”

That potential reunion, though, may not happen anytime soon as the man who played his youth football for Paris Saint-Germain and Lorient says he’s enjoying life in the Italian capital.

“Now I am very happy at Lazio,” said Guendouzi. “It’s going great, I’m enjoying myself, we’re playing the European Cup, I have a very nice team.”

Guendouzi notes that the transition has been made easier by the fact that he’s there with a pair of his former OM teammates, Samuel Gigot (30) and Nuno Tavares (24).

In his new setup, Guendouzi has seen plenty of playing time, featuring in 51 encounters for I Biancocelesti since the beginning of the previous season, and he often features in the starting XI.

Last season at Lazio, the Frenchman scored two Serie A goals and added three assists.

To acquire Guendouzi, the two-time Serie A champions paid an initial loan fee of €1m, with a mandatory buy option of €12m and €5m in bonuses.

During the 2020-21 season, Guendouzi was a part of the French national team when they captured the UEFA Nations League crown for the first time.

French manager Didier Deschamps included him in the starting XI in their previous encounter when Les Bleus defeated Belgium 2-0 in Nations League action after losing their opening match at that tournament against Italy (3-1). During his time at Marseille, Guendouzi scored 10 goals and registered 19 assists in 103 appearances.

GFFN | Joel Lefevre