‘I suffered a kind of trauma, as if my passion had been snatched from me’ – Nicolas Pépé reflects on difficult Arsenal journey | OneFootball

One year after his departure from Arsenal, Nicolas Pépé (29) is a free agent following his contract expiration at Trabzonspor. The Ivorian international has reflected on his journey with the Gunners in an interview with L’Equipe.

Arriving for a whopping €80M fee, a then record-breaking transfer for Arsenal, Nicolas Pépé failed to meet the expectations set in him. In 112 appearances for the Gunners, the winger logged 27 goals and 21 assists before joining Turkey last season when Trabzonspor offered him a one-year contract. There, he managed to find some confidence, managing to get good results on the national and international stage, finishing third in the Turkish top flight, winning the AFCON with Ivory Coast. A way to find back his passion for the sport after a draining journey at Arsenal.

‘I thought about quitting’

In an interview for L’Equipe, Nicolas Pépé revealed that he had “suffered a kind of trauma, as if my passion had been snatched from me.” The former Gunners revealed that he “had a disgust for football. When I stopped playing, I wondered why I was in this profession. I had so many doubts that I thought about quitting. I wondered how they could have been so hard on me. They went so far as to call me the biggest flop in Premier League history! But I refused to mope.”

GFFN l Grégoire Devaux