In Focus: France hope bad boy Guendouzi can come good

French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi will be hoping it is third time lucky for him in international football.

Two years on from his first Les Bleus call-up, the Marseille midfielder is yet to make his debut for his country. 

However, he has made both of Didier Deschamps’ squads this season, including for tonight’s Nations League semi-final against Belgium.

We look at how the controversial playmaker has put himself on the road to redemption.

Arsenal outcast

Guendouzi is still an Arsenal player — though the last of his 82 Gunners appearances came in June 2020.

After that 2-1 defeat at Brighton, Guendouzi was involved in an incident with Seagulls striker and compatriot Neal Maupay, who he grabbed by the throat.

By way of punishment, he was made to train away from the rest of the first-team squad.

He subsequently spent the 2020-21 campaign on loan at Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin before joining Marseille on the same basis for 2021-22.

Deutsch drama

He may have featured in 24 of Hertha’s 34 Bundesliga games as they avoided relegation by two points but Guendouzi was not to everyone’s taste in Berlin.

Head coach Pal Dardai certainly did not appear to see the funny side of his antics.

When interviewed by the German press in February, he said: "It’s like puberty for him, he’s rebellious. He has to work and learn like an animal.

"In training, I always stop [incidences of Guendouzi going down too easily] because you can't fall to the ground like this. And, afterwards, he's mad."

Captain material?

Given his history of controversy at club level, Guendouzi was something of a surprise choice for France skipper at the 2021 European Under-21 Championship.

He wore the armband as Les Blues reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by the Netherlands.

There would be no change in his status at Arsenal, though — and he made the move to Marseille little more than a month later.

Marseille renaissance

While there have been reports of Guendouzi rubbing his new team-mates up the wrong way by openly criticising the smallest mistakes, he looks to have recaptured his best form with Les Phocaeans.

The 22-year-old helped Jorge Sampaoli’s side to a seven-match unbeaten start to the new campaign, scoring his first goal in a 3-1 Ligue 1 win over Saint-Etienne.

His impressive performances saw him made captain for Sunday’s trip to Lille, which ended in a 2-0 defeat.

Compared to other Ligue 1 central midfielders, Guendouzi ranks sixth for passing accuracy (90.98%) and has completed the fifth-most passes into the final third (16.23 per 90).

Marseille have a conditional option to make the loan deal permanent at the end of the season, so it looks like a turbulent period for the former Lorient man may be nearing its end.

Didier’s decision

Guendouzi’s consistency caught the eye of Deschamps, who recalled him for the first international break of the season last month.

He did not get onto the pitch in any of Les Bleus’ three World Cup qualifiers. But the fact he has been included in consecutive squads for the first time — and for such a big game on this occasion — is promising.

It seems unlikely that Guendouzi will feature against Belgium. 

Even if first-choice midfield pairing Paul Pogba or Adrien Rabiot were to pick up an injury, Roma’s Jordan Veretout and Monaco’s Aurelien Tchouameni look to be ahead of him in the pecking order.

But that elusive international debut does not appear to be far away.