Brighton star David Propper’s dreams to come true against Arsenal – EXCLUSIVE

For Brighton’s Dutch international midfielder it will be a case of following in the footsteps of his idol, Dennis Bergkamp, the legendary Gunner who played his one and only game there on the day The Emirates opened for business 11 years ago.

Propper was living that dream long before joined the Premier League new boys from PSV Eindhoven last month for a club record £10million.

And it will come true at the start of a week in which two more of the 26-year-old’s dreams still hang in the balance.

Propper says: “I used to love watching Bergkamp. He is a legend, and when he played for Arsenal it was always a pleasure to watch them.

“He was a kind of idol and such an intelligent player.”

The Dutchman would, of course, love to celebrate the day with Brighton’s third win of the season and take another confidence-boosting step towards fulfilling his other dream of seeing his new club stay in the Premier League.

“It will be difficult because Arsenal are a good team,” he conceded.

“We have a plan for them and we must enjoy playing there and not be scared.”

Propper’s third dream, however, looks like being even more difficult to achieve.

As soon as today’s match is over he will jet off to join the Netherlands squad ahead of their crucial World Cup qualifier in Belarus on Thursday, followed by a crucial match against Sweden that will almost certainly determine whether he goes to the finals in Russia next summer.

“We are third in the group at the moment, but hopefully we can go second this week. Going to Russia and helping Brighton stay in the Premiere League is a double dream for me.”