Matteo Guendouzi has admitted he was hurt by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s decision to freeze him out of the first team.

The Frenchman says he enjoyed most of his first two seasons at the Emirates but, by the end of last campaign, he rarely made the matchday squad. He felt he needed to get away on loan in order to get back his confidence:

“I needed to have fun on the pitch, to regain confidence and that’s what Hertha offers me. It really is a choice I made. In the space of two seasons, I have played more than 80 games with Arsenal. When you play less, you start to think and it hurts.”

Guendouzi has only made three appearances since moving to Hertha Berlin but that was mainly due to the fact he needed time to get back to full match fitness following many months of not playing competitive football.

The 21-year-old played the full 90 minutes in the 5-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund yesterday. He was awarded an assist after being fouled in the box before Matheus Cunha put away his penalty.

Whether Guendouzi will return to the Gunners next season to become part of the first-team squad again, it is doubtful, but he seems happy with his game time in Germany so far.