“I Suffered A Kind Of C” – Nicolas Pepe Opens Up About His Challenging Time At Arsenal

Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe described his time at the club as a “kind of trauma” and revealed he considered quitting football.

Pepe joined Arsenal in 2019 from Lille for a club-record fee of €80 million (£72m) but struggled to meet expectations.

After a difficult period, he was loaned to Nice for the 2022-23 season, accepting a pay cut. Pepe later left Arsenal by mutual agreement with a year remaining on his contract.

The 29-year-old then joined Turkish side Trabzonspor, becoming a free agent after his contract expired.

The player opened up about how his move to Arsenal deeply affected him, leading to feelings of disillusionment and making him question his career in football.

“At Arsenal, I had suffered a kind of trauma, as if my passion had been taken away from me, I had a distaste for football,” Pepe told stated.

“By no longer playing, I wondered why I was doing this job. I doubted to the point that I thought about stopping everything.

“I wondered how they could have attacked me so much. People went so far as to call me the biggest flop in the history of the Premier League!

“I didn’t ask for €80m to be spent on me. At this amount, people don’t care where you come from, they want you to perform directly.

“There aren’t many players who immediately score 25 goals per season, and I’m not even a No9. I wasn’t going to play in the Premier League like that. But that’s what earned me this flood of criticism.

“It was almost harassment. I don’t look at social media a lot, but if my brother relayed to me “they said that about you”, unconsciously, it touched me.

“It also came from the media or certain members of the club. They don’t realize that it can have an impact on the mind, on the family and that has repercussions on performance. The only people who have always supported me are Arsenal fans.”

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG