Arsenal are said to be considering cashing in on Nicolas Pepe in the coming window, but I personally feel that would be a mistake.
While we are fully aware that his best performances are impossible to predict, with consistency not something we have come to expect from the Ivory Coast international, what we should have come to expect is for him to come into his element in the latter months of the season.
In his two seasons in north London, he has always finished strongly, with February onwards seemingly his optimum time in output for both goal contributions and consistency.
In both seasons, he has finished the campaign as a regular in the first-team, and while there would be no specific explanation as to why this occurs, we don’t always have to understand something for it to prove true.
Every summer, we are full of belief that we can expect Pepe to finally become the player we expected for the fee paid for him, and by October, we are either making excuses for him, or back to insisting he just needs time.
Cashing in this January would surely be selling when his stock is at his lowest, especially considering that he will be unavailable during the AFCON early into 2022 which will no doubt be off-putting for a club looking to bolster their squad for a strong finish to the season.
Am I alone in thinking that lightning should strike thrice and Pepe will once again come good after the January transfer window?
Patrick