Can Nicolas Pepe finally start delivering value for money?

Remember when the entire Arsenal fanbase got every excited because Nicolas Pepe was joining Arsenal for big money? £75m spent at the time was something the club was crying out for – the money spent that is, not, as it turns out, the player specifically.

Signed in August 2019, it’s fair to say Pepe has not lived up to his price tag – yet. Following a successful spell at Lille, for whom he signed for just £10m, he headed to North London hopeful of being yet another successful Arsenal import from the French game.

In the world of an online casino, the Ivory Coast international looked like a safe bet – he’d been brilliant in Ligue 1, very, very good in European competition and if there is one thing that Arsenal have dealt successfully with in the past is bringing players in from the French top-flight and helping them hit the ground running.

Not Pepe, however.

Is it his fault that his 72 Gunners appearances to date have brought 16 goals and 13 assists compared to 37 goals and 17 assists in 79 matches for Lille? Is that even that bad a return?

Sure, we can write-off the difference between the Arsenal numbers and Lille numbers by suggesting it’s easier to do it in France and the Premier League is, as we believe, the toughest league in the world.

But if you are spending more on Pepe than Manchester United spent on Bruno Fernandes (34 goals and 21 assists in just 61 United matches) then it’s not difficult to argue that Pepe is not delivering value for money.

Is it a fair comparison? Yes – Pepe was signed by Arsenal to deliver goals and an attacking threat from wide areas. Fernandes was signed by United to provide goals and maybe score a few. One has hit the mark and possibly overachieved early expectations, the other hasn’t.

How much of is it Pepe’s fault? He joined under Emery and it’s commonly felt that there was little tactical identity under the Spaniard. As a result, how easy was it for Pepe to show everyone what he can do? The blame can probably be equally shared – Emery clearly lost his way at Arsenal and where another player might have stepped up regardless, Pepe was unable to do that – after all, he was a young man settling into a new country.

Yet, with Arteta, you’d think that if Pepe is going to be a key man he doesn’t have much longer to start delivering.

The weekend performance against Leicester was a huge step in the right direction. Pepe was sharp, direct and caused Leicester’s left back Luke Thomas so many problems the young defender was hauled off at half-time with Brendan Rodgers worried that the odds on a second yellow card being offered by the best USA high roller casinos meant he should make a change.

Pepe scored and was massively influential. Arsenal need to see this week in week out and then maybe, just maybe we can start to believe that there has been value for money in this signing.