Record-breaking flop Nicolas Pepe explains Arsenal failure

Arsenal's former record-signing Nicolas Pepe is enjoying somewhat of a career revival in Spain and believes he succumbed to the pressure of his lofty price tag after joining the Gunners in 2019.

Arsenal spent a whopping £72m to sign Pepe from Lille ahead of Unai Emery's second season in charge, but the winger struggled to settle in north London despite enjoying a few bright spells.

Mikel Arteta undoubtedly tried to integrate the talented wide man into his plans after Emery was dismissed in November 2019, but the Spaniard eventually thrust Pepe to the periphery and he made his final appearance for the club in May 2022.

Pepe spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Nice before the club parted ways the following summer. He's since joined Trabzonspor and Villarreal on free transfers, with the 29-year-old starting the 2024/25 La Liga season rather well.

In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Pepe has explained where it went wrong for him at Arsenal.

Record-breaking flop Nicolas Pepe explains Arsenal failure

“When a club pays that much for you, the little details don’t matter,” Pepe says. Despite joining the club off the back of one productive season in Ligue 1, expectations were understandably sky-high for the £72m arrival.

“Automatically, the first player to be criticised is the one that cost a lot of money. You have to be getting goals and assists, goals and assists. People expected 30, 35, 40 goals a season. But it was only Messi and Ronaldo who did that.

“Arsenal spent a lot of money on me and I paid the price for it," he added.

Pepe's numbers may have not reflected that of a £72m winger, but he did score 15 Premier League goals during his first two seasons and contributed regularly in the Europa League. However, the maverick Ivorian was a farcry from Arteta's utopian wide man and the rise of Bukayo Saka saw the record-signing's minutes diminish from 2021/22 and beyond.

He was signed to play for Emery, whom Pepe says was a big reason for deciding to join the Gunners, but the Spaniard was soon out the door and replaced by Arteta.

“With Arteta, it wasn’t… well, it was good at the start,” the 29-year-old commented.

“After that, the confidence wasn’t really there. I got less and less game time, so there was some frustration. I’m not someone who likes being on the bench every week without justification or explanation. So yeah, that’s something that created some tension.”

His stop-start form and the expectations which surrounded his arrival combined with Arteta's demands took a toll on the winger mentally in north London. Pepe didn't take to online criticism well, with the player admitting that he lost much of what made him a £72m-rated winger in the first place after arriving at Arsenal.

“You want to show what you can do, to shut people’s mouths, have some pride. But if your head is not right and it doesn’t work, you start playing backwards, unconsciously. It’s not about lacking character. I have a lot of character and a lot of pride. But sometimes it’s difficult. You get the ball and you pass it backwards because you’ve already had to withstand so much criticism," he says.

After wasting away for his final couple of years in north London, Pepe has so far struggled to rekindle his 2018/19 form. His Nice and Trabzonspor spells were forgettable, but he's found a new lease of life under Marcelino at Villarreal. Pepe is a rotational piece for the Yellow Submarine, but crucially, he's enjoying his football again.

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