JEREMIE ALIADIERE is back at Arsenal over 15 years on from his ill-timed transfer away from the club.
The Frenchman spent eight years in North London after joining the Gunners’ academy aged 16.
He went on to score nine goals in 50 appearances for Arsenal, winning five trophies, including two league titles and the FA Cup.
However, he would leave to join Middlesbrough in 2007 after forcing through a transfer he has since admitted he regrets.
Aliadiere revealed in 2018 that he believes he could have replaced Thierry Henry in the team if he had stayed at the Emirates Stadium.
His fellow Frenchman also left Arsenal during the same transfer window.
“I left for Middlesbrough because I forced the move, because I was 24 and needed to play,” Aliadiere told Le Vestiaire.
“He was telling me to stay because I’d play.
“Now, I regret it. For me, Arsenal was the ideal club, and I wanted to do my whole career and spend my life there.
“It felt like a failure when I felt I had to leave, but it’s true that now, I arrived at the same time at Thierry Henry and left at the same time at Thierry Henry.
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“If I’d stayed an extra year, maybe I could have taken his spot.”
Aliadiere scored 12 goals in 86 appearances for Boro but was relegated from the Premier League in 2009.
Almost two decades on from his exit, the 40-year-old is now back at Arsenal in a new role.
He now works as a matchday presenter for his former club, alongside his coaching career.
Aliadiere is currently completing his UEFA B licence and has been coaching for Luton’s academy as well as appearing as a pundit for Astro Supersport.
After three years with Boro, Aliadiere went on to have two spells with Lorient in his native France either side of a stint in Qatar.
The former under-21 international announced his retirement in 2017 aged 34 following Lorient’s relegation to Ligue 2.
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