Nicolas Pepe has come to terms with his Arsenal exit and the price tag that warped perceptions around his performances, but admits “it wasn’t easy”.
When people mention the Ivory Coast international, now 29, the then club-record £72m fee to sign the winger from Lille soon follows.
And it is a number, Pepe admits, he struggled to handle.
“It wasn’t easy at all. And the fans weren’t happy with how I was performing,” he told BBC Sport.
“When I first joined, the fans weren’t really judging my performances, they were judging the price tag. But I think I did some great things while at Arsenal. I don’t regret my time there.
“But my transfer fee to the club was the highest one they’d signed, so they expected me to score in each match.”
Arsenal signed Pepe in 2019 after a sensational season with Lille, during which he scored 23 goals and managed 12 assists, but he never approached the same strike rate in England.
He played his last game for Arsenal in 2022 and, after a season-long loan at Nice, is now without a club after leaving Turkish side Trabzonspor in the summer, having only joined them on a free transfer from Arsenal last September.
“If Arsenal bought me for £20m, maybe it’d be different,” he said. “It’s not the player’s fault.
“They don’t ask for £100m or £90m. But that’s how it is in the football world and it’s something that people can’t understand.
“There are also players like [Mykhailo] Mudryk and Antony who don’t perform at their best all the time, and yet they’re not bad players.”
“They helped me when leaving, which wasn’t easy because I was injured, so my recovery wasn’t easy… they helped me find a club quickly,” he explained. “So, I definitely left the club on good terms.
“I have always had a great relationship with Arteta. It’s just that he didn’t have full confidence in me, which is a shame.
“He put together a winning team, and sadly, I wasn’t in that player turnover. But he’s someone I respect, and I know he respects me too. And I wish him all the best.”
Pepe now feels the difficult time will make him mentally stronger.
“With the pressure I went through at Arsenal, I’m in a pretty good headspace now,” he said.
