Stephy Mavididi left Arsenal for Juventus in August 2018, during the opening months of Unai Emery’s reign.
He didn’t play a senior game for the Gunners, and was handed an opportunity to join the Italian champions’ B team.
Mavididi ended up playing for the senior side as a substitute in April 2019, becoming the first Englishman to do so since David Platt.
He joined Montpellier for £5.7 million in June, after a successful loan spell at Dijon, and told the Guardian he wouldn’t have had the opportunities he’s had if he’d stayed at Arsenal.
“I tend not to look at the regrets because if I had stayed at Arsenal then I probably wouldn’t be where I am now,” he said.
“When you’re at big clubs, you’ve got to have everything going in your favour – you need a manager who is willing to play you (and) some luck and that’s not always the case.
“Moving abroad gave me a fresh start. It helped me to discover a different way of living and playing football at a very good level instead of dropping down the leagues.”
“My ultimate goal is to get into England’s senior team, but for now the best pathway is the Under-21s so I want to try and get into that squad. We have a very exciting generation of players and I feel like I’m part of that.”
Mavididi is still just 22 but he has trained alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and is now playing regular football in Ligue 1 with Montpellier.
Arsenal have the likes of Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli and Florian Balogun as young strikers coming through – so he’s probably right to say he wouldn’t have got the same opportunities if he’d stayed put.
He deserves credit as a young English player for going abroad, learning a new style of play and seeking out regular football.
As Mavididi rightly said, England have a host of talented youngsters right now and adding to his two Ligue 1 goals this season should put him in contention for the Under-21 European Championship in March.
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