Marseille and former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has finally discussed his relationship with Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners boss had a falling out with Guendouzi, which resulted in his eventual permanent exit from the club.

The Frenchman was brought to the club by Unai Emery in 2018, impressed early in his career with the club, but eventually failed to meet Arteta's standards.

In a recent interview with BeIN Sports, the 23-year-old spoke about issues he encountered at Arsenal.

"Journalists used this excuse to say that we had a bad relationship and that's why I stopped playing and left Arsenal [Neil Maupay/Brighton incident]," Guendouzi claimed.

"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."

Addressing Arteta, he added: "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 play 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 when you're young is to play."