We live in a time where big money signings are never going to get time to settle in, and that’s been especially true for Nicolas Pepe.
The Ivorian arrived from Lille with a big reputation, while The BBC also reported that the fee of £72m was a club record so of course expectations were high.
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It’s always harsh to label someone a flop, but for a forward player at one of the best teams in the country, four goals and six assists in 24 Premier League games is nowhere near enough.
It gets even more interesting when you take this stat into account, because it suggests he is capable of having a big game every now and then:
Nicolas Pepe is the only Arsenal player to have been named WhoScored man of the match more than once in the Premier League this season, winning the award four times – all at the Emirates
? Tottenham
? West Ham
? Man Utd
? Newcastle pic.twitter.com/TO481qJAIB— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 18, 2020
It’s also staggering that he’s the only Gunner who’s been Man of the Match more than once this season, it really just shows how inconsistent the entire team has been.
While that stat suggests he’s been Arsenal’s best player this season, it really just shows he’s had a few good games at home. That might be what frustrates the fans even more, because we can all see that he has the ability, it’s just rarely on display.
It’s also possible that he might feel more settled going into next season and we start to see the best of him, but it’s hard to say he’s been anything other than a disappointment so far.