Karate helped me becoming a fighter: Matteo Guendouzi

Arsenal's Matteo Guendouzi feels that karate has helped him a lot in terms of developing a fighter mentality on the pitch.

Guendouzi's father is a karate instructor.

"I think it really helped me in terms of my mentality, being a fighter on the pitch, and always wanting to win and get stuck into duels in a bid to really help the team," the club's official website quoted Guendouzi as saying.

Despite admitting that karate helped him, the 20-year-old said it was difficult to combine football and karate.

"Karate has helped me a lot in that regard. When I was young, I came third in a karate competition in France, which was great, but it is difficult to combine football and karate," he said.

"I certainly have very fond memories from doing karate. In terms of flexibility. I'd say I'm more flexible on the pitch which is a great help," Guendouzi added.