Matteo Guendouzi's Arsenal career has officially come to an end.
Having joined Marseille on loan back in August, it has been confirmed this week by the club's president Pablo Longoria that the midfielder will complete a permanent move at the end of the season by signing a three-year deal at the Stade Velodrome.
In truth, Guendouzi's Arsenal career has effectively been over ever since being frozen out by Mikel Arteta towards the end of the 2019/20 season as he has spent the last two campaigns out on loan.
The first of which was with Hertha Berlin which turned out to be a mixed spell, but he's certainly impressed at Marseille with four goals and 11 assists in 38 appearances across all competitions so far this campaign.
Furthermore, after returning to France last summer, the 22-year-old bid a farewell to Arsenal.
"Thank you Arsenal FC, thanks for everything!," he posted on Twitter. "I discovered and learned so much during my time here.
"It would be impossible to list everything without forgetting one memory or word… But I will never forget any minute spent with the Gunners jersey."
Now the deal has been confirmed, it's safe to say that Guendouzi won't be fulfilling Cesc Fabregas' prediction about having a bright future with the Gunners.
Although, in the Spaniard's defence not many would have disagreed with him at the time as Guendouzi quickly established himself as a key player for Arsenal under then-head coach Unai Emery following his arrival from Lorient in the summer of 2018.
In addition, the midfielder was one of few players to emerge with any credit as the north London outfit made a slow start to the 2019/20 season which ultimately cost Emery his job in November.
Of the many impressive performances produced by Guendouzi in an Arsenal shirt, one that immediately springs to mind was against Manchester United at Old Trafford as the visitors claimed a point.
Such was Guendouzi's standout display that he made Cesc Fabregas take notice.
In fact, the former Gunners captain made a bold prediction about the Frenchman on the back of the 1-1 draw at the 'Theatre of Dreams'.
"Gotta love Guendouzi," Fabregas tweeted. "He can play good or not so good but always shows up in difficult moments at such a young age.
"Big future ahead of him at Arsenal."
With that said, at one point this season it did seem as if Guendouzi could still have a future at Arsenal after all.
Despite the incident with compatriot Neal Maupay during a 2-1 loss to Brighton in June 2020 that caused him to be sidelined by Arteta, the question was raised as to if he had played his final game for the club.
And the Gunners boss didn't exactly rule it out.
"I think you cannot say that about a player that is owned by the club," he told reporters.
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Of course, now it's a certainty that the Brighton game was Guendouzi's final bow in an Arsenal shirt and his move to Marseille could earn his soon-to-be former club a nice €11million (£9.4million) transfer windfall.
That is the fee previously reported by Sport Witness as part of Marseille's option to buy agreement.
In total, Guendouzi made 82 appearances for the Gunners across all competitions, with his solitary goal coming in a Europa League group phase win over Qarabag.
