Arsenal made 'big mistake' with deal for £72m star at the Emirates | OneFootball

One marquee Arsenal signing will go down as a 'big mistake' by the club and it is time for both parties to move on, journalist Paul Brown has told GIVEMESPORT.

Nicolas Pepe was brought to the Emirates Stadium for a club-record £72 million from Lille in August 2019, but has failed to make an impact during his four years with Arsenal. He has spent the current 2022/23 season on loan at Nice, where he has scored six goals in 19 Ligue 1 appearances.

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Arsenal news - Nicolas Pepe

Pepe has only one year remaining on the initial five-year contract he signed when joining and it is almost certain no extension will be offered. There is even the possibility of Arsenal terminating the Ivory Coast international's contract if they are unable to find a suitable buyer for Pepe this summer, as the winger simply does not fit in Mikel Arteta's plans moving forward.

Pepe is reportedly on £140,000 per week at the club and those wages could prove prohibitive for any potential suitors, particularly from France, where few clubs have the financial structure to offer anything close to those terms.

What has Brown said about Arsenal and Pepe?

Brown told GIVEMESPORT: "He's had his moments at the club but never really commanded a regular starting place. And they clearly overspent, expecting to get much more out of him than they ever have.

"A succession of managers, even when he played well in flashes, always said the same thing about him. Essentially, 'that's great, but do it every week...' and he's never been able to. So I think that deal will go down as a mistake and quite a big mistake, really, by Arsenal. But Pepe probably agrees with that himself. I should think it's just time for him to move on. Let's put this part of his career behind him."

What next for Nicolas Pepe?

It is clear that Pepe is best suited to and most comfortable playing in his native France, where he scored 22 goals in 38 league games for Lille in the 2018/19 season. He may never recapture that form again, but his performances for Nice this season have at least proven that he is still a capable player in the league and may well tempt another Ligue 1 team to make an offer.