The story of Pepe's disastrous spell at Arsenal

Arsenal invested a club-record £72 million ($88m) in Nicolas Pepe during the summer transfer window of 2019, with the Gunners having to spend big on the Ivory Coast international in order to lure him away from Lille and fend off rival interest from across Europe.

Those at Emirates Stadium were of the opinion that they were acquiring one of the most exciting talents in world football, with there plenty of potential for them to unlock in a tricky and powerful winger that appeared perfectly suited to life in the Premier League.

Fast forward three seasons and little return has been seen on a history-making investment, with Pepe toiling to the point that a move elsewhere – for a much lower transfer fee – is now being rumoured with there still two years left to run on the contract he signed when arriving in England.

That question was put by GOAL to former Gunners striker Alan Smith, with a man that knows all about providing an attacking spark in north London saying when speaking in association with Bookies Bonuses: “I don’t think he’s Arteta’s cup of tea – doesn’t work hard enough and you never know what you are going to get out of him.

“Talented, yes, he could put one in the top corner from 30 yards, but you never know what he’s going to produce.

“How much money they could get for him is another matter. They certainly aren’t going to get £70-odd million back, what a transfer that was!

“If they can, they need to move on from it. Arteta has been quite ruthless in moving on from players – you think of [Mesut] Ozil and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang – he doesn’t hesitate.

“Sometimes it will cost the club money to ship them out, but I’m sure he will be trying to do that with Pepe. It’s been a disaster of a signing.”

Pepe registered