‘If I cost €20m, maybe they would have spent more time on me’ – Nicolas Pépé on his transfer to Arsenal | OneFootball

In an interview with BBC Sport, Nicolas Pépé (29) opened up on his transfer to Arsenal from Lille and the impact that it has had on the rest of his playing career.

Arsenal signed the Trabzonspor attacker from Les Dogues for a club-record fee in 2019. The Premier League club paid an eyewatering €80m for the Ivory Coast international after an impressive season in Ligue 1 where he scored 22 goals and registered a further 11 assists in the French top fight. Fans of the Gunners were excited to see what their former club-record signing could do in the English game.

However, things didn’t work out as Pépé would have hoped in the Premier League. Despite winning an FA Cup and Community Shield during his time with the North London club, the forward became heavily criticised for never being able to refind the form that made him so desirable while playing for Lille.

Pépé puts this down to his pricetag. Talking about if he believed things could have gone differently at the Premier League outfit, he said, “No, its not that. It’s the price tag. For example, if Arsenal had bought me for €20m. Maybe it would have been different. Maybe, they would have spent more time on me, built up my confidence and prepared me for playing in the Premier League.”

GFFN | Liam Wraith