‘Arsenal broke their transfer record to sign me – I paid the price for it'

Forgotten Arsenal signing Nicolas Pepe has revealed how the immense pressure of his £72million price-tag made him “pay the price” in north London. The Ivorian winger’s transfer to the Emirates Stadium in 2019 was greeted with a mix of high expectations and skepticism given the substantial investment following a successful stint in Ligue 1.

Pepe, 29, contributed 27 goals and 21 assists over three seasons as he fell fell short of the lofty expectations set by his hefty transfer fee. And it eventually led to his contract being terminated one year early just so the club could get his wages off their books.

In an interview with The Athletic (via The Mirror), Pepe reflected on the challenges he encountered: “When a club pays that much for you, the little details don’t matter. I was young; it was the first time I had left France to play abroad. I had to adapt in lots of ways, but people don’t see that. They only see what happens on the pitch.

“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 [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo who did that. Arsenal spent a lot of money on me and I paid the price for it.”

Pepe reflected on the pressures of his high transfer fee impacting his Arsenal career, acknowledging his £72m cost “played on his mind.” Despite a promising 16-goal haul in the 2020/21 season, the rise of Bukayo Saka and Mikel Arteta’s succession as manager stacked the odds against him.

A loan stint at Nice did little to bolster his standing before agreeing to cancel his deal and join Trabzonspor on a free transfer. He’s since gone on to find steadier footing at Villarreal, but the forward can’t help but look back on his Arsenal spell with some regret.

“There was this relentlessness as if people didn’t care about the adaptation process,” he continued. “It was, ‘you have to perform, you have to perform.’ It’s like I served as an example for those that followed. Clubs now think, ‘if we’re going to pay big for a player, we have to protect him.’ Arsenal protected me, but it was like it was the first time.”

“Today, there are players who cost a lot more than me and are producing less than I did, but they don’t get criticised. I think my move was shocking to some people in the sense that it was the first big fee [Arsenal has paid]. I think if they paid the same amount for me now, I wouldn’t be criticised in the same way.”

Opinion may be divided on whether that can be considered true if Pepe replicated the same statistics. Arsenal have since shattered their spending record after splashing out £105m to recruit Declan Rice from West Ham last year, but the Englishman so far stands as proof there are those who can bear the burden of a huge fee.