Arsenal signed Nicolas Pepe for a club-record fee in the summer of 2019, but things just haven’t worked out for the Ivorian at the Emirates.
Unai Emery was desperate for a new winger before the start of his second season at Arsenal. It’s no secret now that Wilfried Zaha was his preferred option, but Edu and Raul Sanllehi decided to sign the more prolific Pepe instead.
Sadly for all parties, it just hasn’t gone to plan.
Nicolas Pepe has no way back at Arsenal
Pepe really struggled to get going at Arsenal. The £72 million (BBC) weight on his shoulders really troubled him, and the fact that Mikel Arteta consistently preferred Saka over him didn’t help either.
Despite all that, Pepe was directly involved in 48 goals in 68 starts. That’s not as awful a record as many people make it seem, but it was clear last summer that he had to leave to play regular football.
Pepe joined Nice on loan and he is having a decent season there. Some of his performances have been really impressive, but that, according to Dean Jones, will not change Arteta’s mind about bringing him back – he has no future at Arsenal.
The journalist told GiveMeSport: “They paid way too much for him!
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“I haven’t heard that there’s going to be any way back for him, and the way that this team has evolved since he left suggests that there’s no point now even trying.”
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Pepe certainly has no future at Arsenal. Bukayo Saka is the Gunners’ undisputed first-choice right-winger, and that will not change. Fabio Vieira has also played there and impressed, while Leandro Trossard is a great option too in that position whenever required.
That eliminates the need for Pepe, but Arsenal may have another big problem on their hands when the Ivorian returns from his loan at Nice at the end of this season.
Reports claimed yesterday that the Gunners may have to terminate Pepe’s contract as no club seems willing to pay a transfer fee to sign him.
That would complicate things for Arsenal, who paid a fortune to get him less than four years ago.
