Confidence Waned with Mikel Arteta: Big-money Arsenal flop opens up about 'tension' and lack of support

In 2019, Arsenal shattered their transfer record by signing the Ivorian player from Lille for a whopping €79 million (£72m).

But Pepe was unable to make a serious mark on a still-developing side and found himself mostly appearing from the subs’ bench. Pepe was sent out on loan to Nice in 2022 and departed for Trabzonspor on a free transfer last year, spending a year in Turkey before moving on again to Villarreal.

Nicolas Pepe: "It was good with Arteta at Arsenal... at the start"

Reflecting on his time at Arsenal, Pepe told The Athletic: “With Arteta, it wasn’t… well, it was good at the start.

“After that, the confidence wasn’t really there. I got less and less game time, so there was some frustration. I’m not someone who likes being on the bench every week without justification or explanation. So yeah, that’s something that created some tension.”

The 29-year-old feels he could have been better supported in his first venture outside French football, saying: “There was this relentlessness, as if people didn’t care about the adaptation process. It was, ‘You have to perform, you have to perform.’

“It’s like I served as an example for those that followed. Clubs now think ‘if we’re going to pay big for a player, we have to protect him.’

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“Arsenal protected me, but it was like it was the first time. Today, there are players who cost a lot more than me and are producing less than I did, but they don’t get criticised.

“I think my move was shocking to some people, in the sense that it was [Arsenal’s] first big fee. I think if they paid the same amount for me now, I wouldn’t be criticised in the same way.”

He added: “You know you cost €80m, and that everyone will be talking about you if things don’t go well.

“Unconsciously it plays on your mind. You can claim it doesn’t get to you, but it does. It’s one of the difficulties of football today. There are players out there who are very good but perhaps cost too much – but that’s not their fault.”