‘Obviously’: Speedy Ligue 1 striker admits re-joining Arsenal would be a ‘dream’

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Arsenal let Stephy Mavididi leave the club in 2018.

Arsenal have seen a number of academy graduates feature in the first team this season, but not everybody has been quite so fortunate.

The Gunners will be delighted with the progress of Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah this season, with all four set to be fixtures of Mikel Arteta’s squad moving forward.

Yet in Stephy Mavididi, there’s a player who felt that he couldn’t make the breakthrough and needed to move on in order to further his career.

The 21-year-old attacker joined Arsenal way back in 2010, coming up through the ranks whilst impressing with his blistering pace and silky dribbling ability.

After impressing on loan at Charlton Athletic, Mavididi wasn’t quite so successful at Preston North End, and after another stint with Charlton, the striker stunned many by signing for Juventus.

Mavididi spent last season in the Juventus Under-23’s outside of one senior appearance, and he is now over in France, where he has scored eight times in 30 games for Ligue 1 side Dijon.

Mavididi appears to be developing, proving to be a threat off the shoulder of the last man with Dijon after Thierry Henry – a big fan of Mavididi – recommended him to the French club last summer.

Now, Mavididi has admitted to Football.London that he wants to make the grade with Juventus, but if not then he will move on – and playing for Arsenal again would obviously be a ‘dream’ for him, even if he doesn’t think he’s ready to return just yet.

“I do hope to play regularly for Juventus but if not, Juventus are not the only team in the world,” said Mavididi. “Ultimately my dream is to play in the Premier League, I’m working towards coming back to England. For me I have many targets. Juventus is one of them but if that doesn’t work out I’ll move on to the next one and the next one.”

“Obviously it would be a dream to play for Arsenal again but right now I wouldn’t say I’m ready to play in a team like theirs,” he added.