Arsenal record signing branded one of worst summer signings
It seems that the jury is back in with regards to Arsenal record signing Nicolas Pepe and it is not good. Talksport ran a piece today claiming that the 24-year-old is one of the worst signings this summer. He is joined by Alex Iwobi, Moise Kean, Oli McBurnie and Danny Drinkwater.
Seems a little harsh to me. He has scored and had two assists and that on the back of no real pre-season. Pepe is having to adapt to a completely new playing culture and even Arsene Wenger has called for patience.
He has not lived up to his £72 Million price tag I will admit and his game has deficiencies. Not tracking back is one such deficiency. But we have seen what he is capable of and it seems to me that he is an easy target.
That said, the pressure is now on Pepe, he does have to start producing and soon otherwise the criticism of him will increase. Having a huge price tag can be an albatross around one’s neck and Pepe is starting to feel that burden.
Going forward and terrorising opposition defences is Pepe’s day job but he also has to learn to trackback. He does not assist the midfield or defence when the ball is lost and that he can change quickly.
Goals and assists will come, he did too well in France and has shown enough in England to see that he is top quality. We just need to see it consistently.