Mikel Arteta has completed the Arsenal exodus he demanded amid Matteo Guendouzi's final decision

Mikel Arteta has finally completed the player exodus he needed to be able to accelerate plans for the squad rebuilding process in the summer.

Marseille’s president Pablo Longoria has confirmed that Matteo Guendouzi will permanently join Marseille at the end of the season on a three-year deal following his successful loan spell with the club this campaign.

Guendouzi had a well-publicised falling out with Arteta and his way back into the team always looked a distinct possibility.

The Frenchman joins Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a group of departing players who were seen as central to some of the dressing-room problems, illustrating the process Arsenal continue to undergo on Arteta's watch as he seeks to change the culture of his squad.

Arteta became a student of Pep Guardiola after joining the Manchester City coaching staff in 2016 and his ideology is now very similar to the Manchester City boss in terms of squad togetherness and creating a harmonious environment at the club.

Speaking on this matter, Arteta said: "If you don't have the right culture, in the difficult moments, the tree is going to shake, so my job is to convince everybody that this is how we are going to live, and if you are going to be part of this organisation it has to be in these terms and in this way."

And it is for this reason that Guendouzi’s time at the club was always likely to be in a perilous position once he crossed the Spaniard. The Frenchman had been constantly criticised for his well-cited attitude problems and the flashpoint against Brighton in 2020 with Neal Maupay was a case in point as accusations emerged of his attempts to belittle Seagulls players.

Arteta opted to omit him from his Premier League lineups as a