Leicester City Complete Stephy Mavididi Signing
- Stephy Mavididi joins Leicester City on a five-year-deal
- The forward signs from French Ligue 1 side Montpellier HSC
- He has made over 100 appearances in Ligue 1
- The 25-year-old arrives with prior English Football League experience
The 25-year-old arrives at King Power Stadium for an undisclosed fee having agreed a five-year deal with the Football Club. He has spent the last four seasons in the top flight of French football and has built a reputation as an exciting and versatile forward.
Speaking to LCFC.com, Mavididi said: “I’m honestly happy and delighted to be here. Speaking to the Manager and some of the staff here, it was a no brainer for me. It was one that was in the pipeline for a while and myself and my family are just happy that it is over the line now.
“Obviously the size and history of the Club speaks for itself. The training ground, the stadium. Personally, I wanted to come back to England, I felt like it was time to come home and continue my football here.”
The Derby-born attacker, who spent eight years in Arsenal’s academy system, joins the Foxes with EFL experience having previously represented Charlton Athletic and Preston North End in League 1 and the Championship, respectively, during loan spells in the early stages of his career.
His performances attracted the interest of Italian giants Juventus in 2018 and would join the Serie A side on a permanent basis. The move would see him further develop in Serie C with the Turin club's Under-23s before another successful loan move to Dijon in France in 2019.
In a French domestic season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mavididi would become Dijon’s top scorer in 2019/20 with eight goals and a growing reputation that saw a move to Montpellier materialise in the summer of 2020, where he would immediately establish himself as a first team regular.
The former England youth international also became the most-capped English player in Ligue 1 history last season when he overtook Chris Waddle’s record by making a 108th appearance in the division.
He will now join with Enzo Maresca’s squad when they return from their pre-season visit to Southeast Asia and ahead of the opening weekend of the Championship season, which sees the Foxes take on Coventry City at King Power Stadium on Sunday (12pm BST kick-off).