Former Preston North End attacker Stephy Mavididi is now being targeted for a big move to Valencia having impressed at Montpellier.
Loans are a hot topic at PNE right now.
North End pounced to sign two new strikers last week with Tom Cannon and Liam Delap arriving on loan from Everton and Manchester City respectively.
The decision to take three strikers on loan this season – including Tottenham’s Troy Parrott – has left fans divided.
Putting the goalscoring hopes on loans is a risky strategy and some PNE fans are worried that North End aren’t investing enough in signing players for the future.
That risk has been played out before, with some loan strikers struggling at PNE before developing and shining elsewhere.
Stephy Mavididi is one such case after he joined PNE on loan from Arsenal back in 2017.
Mavididi was seen as an exciting addition having dazzled on loan at Charlton Athletic, but it just never worked for him at North End.
Mavididi played just 10 league games for PNE and failed to find the net before his loan spell was terminated by Arsenal.
The striker has been on a crazy career path since then, signing for Juventus Under-23’s and even making his senior debut for the Turin giants.
After excelling on loan at Dijon, Mavididi joined Montpellier in 2020 and has really found a home in France.
Mavididi has now bagged 17 goals and three assists in 81 outings for Montpellier, shining both wide and up front.
The 24-year-old is now attracting rather lofty interest with Italian reporter Alfredo Pedulla claiming that Valencia are now pushing to sign him.
A loan with obligation to buy could be in the pipeline with Mavididi identified by Valencia boss Gennaro Gattuso – yes, the former AC Milan star – as a top target.
Few PNE fans could have seen Mavididi reaching this kind of level during his time at Deepdale but his progress just shows the up and down nature of the loan market.