Arsenal: Don’t be stupid, Nicolas Pepe is an investment

Apparently Nicolas Pepe’s transfer value has dipped since joining Arsenal. Who cares? The guy is an investment, so shut up about it.

The annoyings are out again, criticizing Nicolas Pepe and drawing attention to things that don’t need attention drawn to them. I wonder if SkySports is formulating a Premier League table of where Arsenal would be if they hadn’t signed Pepe. Probably first.

Nowadays, people are talking about Pepe’s declining value. When he arrived at the Emirates, his transfer value was at a sturdy £68m. Apparently, that value has since dropped to £58m, because I guess the hidden algorithm at Transfermarkt has deemed it so.

To be fair, I put a lot of credence in Transfermarkt. I believe in their system and it’s proven. But that doesn’t mean that we should be kicking up dust about Pepe again. For starters, he’s still a tremendous athlete who is our second most effective goal producer. That should be all you need to know.

But if you want to know more, of course his value was going to dip when he joined Arsenal. He accounted for 33 Ligue 1 goals in his final year at Lille. That was never going to translate immediately into the Premier League.

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Why? Because Ligue 1 and the Premier League are worlds apart. Even Eden Hazard saw a big dip when he made the same move, and I don’t see anyone complaining about Hazard’s monetary value. His production didn’t reach Ligue 1 values until about seven years later.

You rarely if ever seen Ligue 1 productions recouped in the Premier League. Especially not right away. So rather than bash a perfectly capable Pepe, who is still on target to do some incredible things at the club if we just shut up and give him time to do so. By paying off Pepe in installments, we have made a declaration that we are investing in this guy for the long-term.

So if he doesn’t pay off in this first year—which he already has—at least admit to yourself that he’s getting better and that his threat to goal is incredibly real. That should be enough for everyone.

Also, what exactly are you losing on Pepe’s monetary value dropping? Do you have stock in him? If so, keep it. Because just like most stock-dipping situations, it’s going to bounce right back and you don’t want to be one of the people who hit the panic button.