Nicolas Pepe considered retiring as 29-year-old Arsenal flop opens up on harrowing ordeal

Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe has revealed that he considered retiring following his torrid spell in north London.

The winger was signed by the Gunners from Lille in 2019 for a then-club record fee of £72million but failed to justify his immense price tag during his 112 appearances for the club, scoring 27 times.

Pepe’s performances led to widespread criticism, with reports even emerging claiming that his displays prompted Arsenal to review the decision-making process in signing the Ivorian. The winger saw his contract with the Gunners terminated last summer, allowing him to join Turkish side Trabzonspor.

He made 23 appearances for the club last season but has admitted that aged 29, he has considered hanging his boots up in years gone by due to the criticism he faced following his move to Arsenal.

He told French newspaper L’Equipe: “It was almost harassment. I don’t look at social media much, but if my brother told me ‘this is what they said about you’, it would affect me unconsciously.

“It also came from the media or from certain members of the club. They don’t realise that it can affect the mental state, the family and it affects performance.

“The only people who have always supported me are the Arsenal fans. At Arsenal, I suffered a kind of trauma, as if my passion had been ripped away from me, I had a disgust for football. I doubted myself to the point that I thought about quitting everything.

“I wondered how they could have been so relentless in their attacks on me. They even called me the biggest flop in the history of the Premier League. But I refused to mope.”

Trabzonspor were keen to retain the services of Pepe next season but the player decided not to pen a fresh one-year deal with the Super Lig outfit, believing that he can get his career back on track elsewhere as a free agent.

Several Saudi Pro League sides have registered an interest in signing Pepe as a result, but the forward has snubbed those approaches so far as, despite the lucrative offers, he believes that he is still capable of thriving in Europe and would like to right the wrongs of his spell at Arsenal.