Nicolas Pepe cost Arsenal almost £3m-a-goal and could join Besiktas for nothing
Arsenal flop Nicolas Pepe is reportedly set to leave for nothing after costing nearly £3million for every goal he scored.
The Gunners splashed a then club-record fee of £72m to sign the Ivory Coast right winger from Ligue 1 Nice in the 2019 summer transfer window.
He struggled to live up to the high expectations that hefty price tag brought with it and ended up returning to his former club on loan last season.
Pepe, now aged 28, still has a year left on his contract but transfer guru Fabrizio Romano says he is prepared to now leave.
READ MORE: 'Nicolas Pepe is one of Arsenal's worst ever signings – he rivals Igors Stepanovs'
Transfermarkt Turkey go one step further and claim he's in the process of terminating it and is very close to signing for Turkish side Besiktas.
Should that happen, he'll leave north London having registered 27 goals and 21 assists during his 112 appearances across all competitions. That works out to £2.7m per strike.
His best campaign came in 2020/21, when he netted 10 times in the Premier League and scored six as Arsenal reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.
Is Pepe Arsenal's worst signing ever? Let us know in the comments section.
The emergence of Bukayo Saka, combined with his own mixed performances, pushed him out of Mikel Arteta's starting XI the following season, though.
Former Gunners winger Jermaine Pennant believes he's one of the club's worst-ever signings, putting him right up there with infamous Latvian defender Igors Stepanovs. Pennant told Lord Ping: “There have been some awful Arsenal signings down the years but because of the amount, how much he’s played and the performances then you have to say Pepe is one of the worst signings.
"I remember we bought Igors Stepanovs, he was a terrible signing but he was free. If you’re paying £72m you want something back, and it’s been nil. Put those together and he’s probably been one of Arsenal’s worst-ever signings.”
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