The Ivorian winger spectacularly failed to live up to his hefty £72m price tag during his four-year spell at the Emirates Stadium
Unai Emery gave Nicolas Pepe quite the billing upon his arrival at Arsenal on August 2, 2019, telling reporters: "Nicolas is a highly-rated and talented winger who was wanted by many of the top teams in Europe. Signing a top-class winger has been one of our key objectives in this transfer window and I'm delighted he's joining. He will add pace, power and creativity, with the aim of bringing more goals to our team."
The Spanish manager was alkl smiles on the surface, but deep down, he had serious reservations over whether Pepe was the right man give the Gunners a much-needed spark on the right wing. The former Lille talisman's failure to hit the ground running contributed to Emery's sacking some four months later, and he has since admitted that he was never his first-choice target.
"I favoured someone who knew the league and wouldn’t need to adapt," Emery told in May 2022. "[Wilfried] Zaha won games on his own. I told them: ‘This is the player I know and want.’ I met Zaha and he wanted to come. The club decided Pepe was one for the future. I said: ‘Yes, but we need to win now and this lad wins games.’ He beat us on his own."
Arsenal wouldn't have had to pay anywhere near the £72 million ($90m) they spent on Pepe to sign Zaha from Crystal Palace at the time, and he was ready for the step up. And they were quickly made to regret going all out for his Ivory Coast team-mate instead.
Pepe's four-year stay in north London ended last week as the Gunners agreed to terminate his contract a year early. They'd given up on the 28-year-old long ago, with Mikel Arteta having also failed to to polish the rough diamond that lit up Ligue 1 with Lille.
Trabzonspor have snapped Pepe up on a free transfer, and he could enjoy a new lease of life in Turkey. But it's safe to say he'll never get another shot at the very highest level after being written off as arguably the biggest flop in Premier League history.
Getty'No excuses'
Pepe had his moments in his first season at Arsenal. He scored eight goals and set up another 10 – including Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang's winner in the 2020 FA Cup final.
And by the end of the 2020-21 campaign, which saw Pepe record 21 goal contributions in 41 appearances across all competitions, it seemed as though he was beginning to flourish under Arteta. But the Gunners boss made it very clear that he wanted much more from the mercurial attacker.
“He needed a period of adaptation but that is gone now,” Arteta told reporters in April 2021. "We cannot rely on adaptation again: now it is about performance. And he can do it.
“He has got the players to support him, a manager that trusts him, he has got all the staff that are willing to help him and all the team-mates who really like him because he is a really likeable character, so there are no excuses.”
AdvertisementGettyDisruptive clique
Arsenal could only manage an eighth-place Premier League finish in Arteta's first full season at the helm, failing to qualify for European competition for the first time since 1994-95 as a result. The Spanish tactician was on the brink, and had to take decisive action to inspire change.
Arteta felt that the squad was being held back by a disruptive clique, which included Pepe – according to . The Ivorian had formed a strong bond with Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, which was clear to see on the training ground.
The report states that the trio would hang back and talk amongst themselves before sessions, while failing to acknowledge staff members that were not involved with the senior team. Aubameyang was eventually punished for a series of disciplinary breaches, with Arteta stripping him of the club captaincy in December 2021.
There was no way back for the Gabon frontman, who was released from his contract 18 months early before being allowed to join Barcelona on the final day of the winter transfer window. By that time, Pepe had fallen way down the squad pecking order at the Emirates.
Bukayo Saka had nailed down the first choice spot on the right-flank after a string of brilliant performances, with Pepe having to make do with a bit-part role from the bench. Indeed, the former Lille star was restricted to just eight starts across the entire 2021-22 campaign, and only scored three goals.
To make matters worse for Pepe, Lacazette dropped into the free agency pool in the summer after failing to agree a new contract. His two main allies were gone, and he'd lost all favour with Arteta.
Getty'We cannot understand'
Pepe had plenty of low points at Arsenal – the standout being his rash headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski during a 0-0 draw away at Leeds in November 2020. He ended up being sent off after a VAR check, and faced the full wrath of his manager after the game.
"Considering how early we got Pepe sent off we have to take it," Arteta told reporters. "I never like a draw but in the circumstances it's a point. It is unacceptable." Pepe later apologised for that incident, and was able to mend his relationship with the Arsenal boss.
But Arteta was far less forgiving when it came to his general level of performance. When the Gunners met Leeds again at Emirates Stadium in May 2022, with victory an absolute necessity amid their battle for a top-four finish, Pepe almost blew it single-handedly.
With Arsenal holding a precarious 2-1 lead later on, Pepe was presented with a golden chance to score on the break with Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier caught out of position, but failed to even get a shot away. “When you see that he’s got an empty net in front of him and he’s taking a touch backward, we cannot really understand," Arteta said after the final whistle.
The Gunners did hold on for all three points that day, but Arteta knew then it was time to let Pepe go.
GettyNo redemption in France
Pepe was heavily linked with a transfer away from Arsenal throughout the 2022 summer window, with Nice eventually snapping him up on loan towards the end of August. He had pushed for the move after crunch talks over his playing time with Arteta, who couldn't give him what he wanted.
“He has tried everything, his attitude and the way he is, is just phenomenal. You just have to meet the person because you just love him for the way he is," the Arsenal manager said after Pepe's exit. "But then in terms of the decision you have to make on the pitch, who do you select, we made other decisions and obviously that has had an impact in the chances he had to prove his quality.”
Arteta's decision was quickly vindicated, as Pepe endured a nightmare debut for his new club. Nice suffered a 3-0 battering at home to Marseille, and Lucien Favre singled out the Arsenal loanee for criticism after the game.
"He hasn’t played for a long time in England. He has done the pre-season with Arsenal but he hasn’t played any matches," said the then-Nice coach. "He is lacking a bit of rhythm, intensity in his placements, his pressing and in his ball recovery, because everyone has to do that. There aren’t any exceptions. If one or two players don’t do the work, the whole team is in trouble. Everyone has to do it at the same time, everyone has to defend to recover the ball."
Pepe never did manage to get up to speed, as he missed a total of 20 matches through injury in the 2022-23 season. Nice could only finish ninth in the Ligue 1 table, and it was no surprise when they didn't push to sign Pepe on a permanent deal given his mediocre tally of six goals from 17 appearances.
Still, mid-way through the campaign, he had the audacity to fire a not-so subtle dig at Arsenal at Arteta. "I don’t know what Arsenal want. I still have a lot of friends there. I could have been important for the club, but those are the coach’s choices," Pepe told a press conference in January.