Former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe was once the club’s record signing, but things did not pan out the way he would have liked in North London.
Pepe arrived for £72m in the summer of 2019 after a standout season in France with Lille. Unai Emery’s side needed pace in wide areas, and landing the Ivorian was seen as a coup.
Arsenal fans were excited by the prospect of Pepe lining up in a front three alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, but the idea proved to be better than the reality.
Pepe had moments of quality in an Arsenal shirt, but eventually lost his place before having his contract terminated last year. The 29-year-old is now a free agent, and recently spoke about his “trauma” which came during a difficult Arsenal spell. However, it could have turned out so differently.
Nicolas Pepe terrorised Liverpool on his first Arsenal start
After two substitute appearances, Pepe was handed his first start for the club in the toughest game possible as Emery’s side travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool in August 2019.
Emery sprung a surprise as he changed formation, with a midfield diamond behind a split striker partnership.
Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos formed the diamond midfield, with Aubameyang and Pepe as central split strikers.
Arsenal fell to a 3-1 defeat, but fans left the ground excited at the prospect of what Pepe could do.
Pepe came up against the European Champions, with a back line containing Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk, who were at the top of their game at the time.
Van Dijk had remarkably not been dribbled past once in 50 games heading into the clash, but Pepe put an end to that.
Pepe, playing as one of two strikers and occupying the right side, thrived as Arsenal set up to counter, causing Robertson and Van Dijk nightmares with his speed and dribbling, and was unlucky not to score on several occasions.
It was an electric performance, but Pepe would never play in the same position again, and this is where the problems began for him.
Arsenal misused Nicolas Pepe
It was clear from his time at Lille, and this game, that Pepe is best placed as an inside or even central attacker, in a counter-attacking side with space to run into.
Arsenal never lined up with a diamond midfield again, and Pepe would never line up as a striker instead, mainly taking his place on the right wing.
Starting on the right was not necessarily the problem, but Arsenal’s right-backs would never hold width, and Pepe was often shunted out to the touchline with no overlapping support.
This meant that rather than being able to run into space and attack the box, Pepe was asked to dribble and attempt to beat two men from the touchline instead.
Pepe clearly had talent, but uncertainty over his place in the team both under Emery and Mikel Arteta led to his downfall, and the club could have done more to try and find a better way of fitting him into the side.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
