Nicolas Pepe has shed light on why he eagerly embraced the opportunity to transfer to Trabzonspor this summer, despite initially appearing set to stay at Arsenal.
Pepe, who was once Arsenal’s record signing, has faced criticism for not living up to expectations at the club. He struggled to adapt to Mikel Arteta’s tactical demands, leading to his exclusion from the manager’s plans.
Numerous clubs expressed interest in signing Pepe during the last transfer window, with some reports even linking him to moves to Saudi Arabia. However, convincing him to depart Arsenal proved to be a challenging task before he eventually agreed to make the move to Turkey with Trabzonspor.
Speaking about accepting the offer of Trabzonspor, Pepe said, as quoted by NTV Spor:
“There were other Turkish clubs interested in me, but what makes the difference is about the president, vice president and coach of Trabzon.
“Especially our vice president, who travelled regarding this issue. To see me, to have a conversation. He came to explain the club’s project. After he explained to me the club and the project, this was something that appealed directly to me and I could not refuse it.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
If Pepe had remained at the club, he clearly would have struggled to play for us and it seemed he was ready to sit on the bench and make good money.
Thankfully, we found an agreement for his signature and he is gone now so that we can focus on better players at the club.
Gone! Good! Move on!
Talking about better players, Nicholas Pepe was one of the better players slip through the cracks of poor management.
To say no to Trabsonspor would be to die of ring rust at the Colony.
👍Gunsmoke
They rated him this much and could’nt deem it fit to put in a fee to acquire him?? Haha!! Enjoy him now he’s all your’s let’s see how it goes. Smart right?? Let’s see how smart.
They didn’t need to put in a fee, as our club gave him away.
Smart? Very smart on their part, especially as our club still had to pay the final instalment of his transfer fee as well.
Some might say that’s a double whammy smart move by Trabsonspor – but as 😇Jon says above, time to move on.
Yes before the transfer window slammed shut they could’ve put in a bid given the fact he is still contracted to us but they did’nt and waited for us to terminate his contract meanwhile courting him to join their project. Smart indeed! and like i said earlier let’s see how smart.
Have you lost the capacity to think? Why bid when they knew they were going to get him for Free?
👍ken
It’s a sorry state of affairs really
Pepe was never worth the transfer fee which then brought with it a substantial salary
Consequently, when he didn’t get the game time Pepe was virtually only loanable (is there such a word?). I suggest a fee could’ve been reached but the salary would surely have been a massive hurdle to a purchasing club. Pepe appears to have hung on to his contract as he is entitled to do but at the expense of his wider career
His choice or he isn’t as good as I keep reading