Last summer, Arsenal spent their record transfer fee of €80 million on Nicolas Pepe. The Gunners expect the young talent who played for Lille in Ligue 1 to become the main factor, along with Aubameyang and Lacazette to become the strongest attacking trio in Europe.
However, before English football was out due to the pandemic, Pepe had only 6 goals and 8 assists for the Emirates team. That achievement is not worth the money Arsenal "backed" to bring Pepe back. The Gunners also created one of the funniest deals in the club's history when they decided to contribute £20 million/year to Lille for the deal.
Arsenal is famous for being a " exhausted" team despite being ranked among the giants in the Premier League. When COVID-19 hit, like many other teams, the "Gunners" had difficulty in handling finances. Coincidentally, the upcoming June will also be the time when they have to pay Lille another 20 million pounds for the second time.
The Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport humorously described Pepe's situation at Arsenal at the moment. He is considered the most disappointing signing in Europe this season, not Eden Hazard of Real Madrid. Gazzetta dello Sport can also guess how Arsenal's psychology will develop at this time when they have to hook up to pay for a harmless player while the epidemic has not been eradicated.
In terms of on-field indicators, Pepe is not too bad, but the most important thing for a striker is his decisiveness and sharpness, this young striker seems to have forgotten in France before leaving for England.
The presence of Aubameyang and Lacazette was thought to help Pepe a lot to help him quickly integrate. But reality shows the opposite, Pepe seems to be afraid of the talent of his two seniors. When Aubameyang and Lacazette play well, Arsenal do not need Pepe anymore. When the duo was injured and out of form, Pepe was too shy and could not be himself when given the opportunity.
Pepe should remember that he was one of the main reasons why the team's owners had conflicts with their former coach Unai Emery. Emery wants Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace, not Nicolas Pepe.
Emery has passed away but Pepe has become the next "thorn" in the eyes of the owners. They have calculated the department to pay the installment to bring him to the Emirates and now they are sitting there crying and complaining because of a bad investment.
Pepe has shared a few times that he finds it difficult to integrate with the new style of play under new captain Mikel Arteta. Arteta likes simple football, Pepe with his big jobs that complicate things. Sometimes teaching a young player will be much easier to discipline those who have played at the top for a few years. They are no longer just white papers, to follow a new and successful style, not everyone can do like Cristiano Ronaldo.
80 million pounds for simple, low-touch, and scoring football, Pepe must understand the pressure he is under to strive for. Otherwise, he could leave the Emirates when the transfer fee had not yet reached Lille according to the contract.
