Arsenal may be about to make their riskiest signing since Nicolas Pepe

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Arsenal fans are often taunted over the £72m signing of Nicolas Pepe.

In the summer of 2019, Unai Emery smashed Arsenal’s transfer record by bringing in a young Ivorian winger by the name of Nicolas Pepe to the club.

He arrived with a great pedigree in France having scored 22 goals and contributed 11 assists in Ligue 1 for Lille during the 2018-2019 season.

However, things did not quite turn how everyone expected at the Emirates Stadium for Pepe and he subsequently left the club for free in 2023. Arsenal are about to take another similar risk on their latest signing.

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Viktor Gyokeres is Arsenal’s riskiest signing since Nicolas Pepe

Arsenal have reached a total agreement for Viktor Gyokeres and the Swede is about to sign for the club in a deal worth around £65m from Sporting Lisbon.

Mikel Arteta has been a big advocate of signing players with proven Premier League experience since his appointment as manager in December 2019.

The biggest deals completed under the Spaniard include the likes of Declan Rice and Kai Havertz – both had vast amounts of games under their belts with West Ham and Chelsea respectively.

Gyokeres mirrors the signing of Pepe in that he is a player being brought from a league with a lower reputation than that of the Premier League and there are doubts over his ability to transfer his goal scoring pedigree.

Pepe arrived at Arsenal with the expectation that he would transform the Gunners’ attack, much like the narrative that comes with the Swede’s arrival.

However, fans will need to be warned not to expect too much too soon from their latest acquisition as it takes time to settle into the pace and physical nature of the English game.

Nicolas Pepe was treated unfairly at Arsenal

Pepe is often talked about as one of the league’s worst ever signings and although his £72m price tag was not justified during his time in North London, he was not a total disaster.

The Ivorian winger actually put up some solid numbers during his time at the club and his languid, relaxed playing style was often misconstrued as being lazy.

Pepe fell out of favour with Arteta and ultimately his Arsenal career went downhill from that moment onwards.

However, with 48 goal contributions in 112 appearances for the club, upon reflection there have been many more signings from the club that have worked out worse than Pepe.

He is now enjoying a revival in his career with Spanish outfit Villarreal and is set for a reunion with the Gunners in the upcoming pre-season friendly.