Exit rumours grow as pundit lays blame squarely at Arsenal sulk
Kevin Campbell believes Nicolas Pepe only has himself to blame for a lack of playing time with Arsenal as rumours continue that he is eyeing a winter exit.
Pepe, 26, signed on at the Emirates in the summer of 2019. The Gunners paid Lille a club-record £72m for the Ivory Coast forward who arrived in north London to much fanfare. But he has failed to make the expected impact, leaving Mile Arteta frustrated and sending him down the pecking order.
Having bagged 23 goals in his final season for Lille, the French-born ace has scored just 25 times from 98 appearances. He has yet to notch in the Premier League this term from five starts and seven outings.
It was reported back in November that Arteta was looking to sell Pepe in the January transfer window. And football.london suggested earlier this week that the player is becoming frustrated with his Arsenal situation.
He is keen for a winter exit, according to reports, preferably on loan. The club will then need to make a decision about his long-term future next summer.
Reports suggest the former Angers star is cutting a forlorn figure at present. And ex-Arsenal striker Campbell feels that will have a knock-on effect throughout the playing staff.
“Maybe Pepe’s attitude is not right,” he told the Highbury Squad, via football.london. “And that sends a bad message to the team. If you are not putting the work in, if you are just skulking around, it sends a bad message to the team.”
Pepe a victim of Arteta system
Arsenal began 2021-2022 in poor form, with three consecutive top-flight losses. However, they managed to rally and put together a decent run of results.
They won six and drew two before crashing 4-1 away at Liverpool. Monday’s 2-1 defeat to Everton was a third reverse in four outings and they have now slipped to seventh.
Arteta needs his big guns to be firing but the system the Spaniard employs might not be suited to Pepe. He has pace to burn which cannot be utilised to the full in a possession-based game.
Eddie Nketiah appears ahead of him in Arteta’s thinking at present. And the former Gunners midfielder justified his decision to bring on the young Londoner last time out.
“He does everything in training what you saw him do in 25 minutes here,” said Arteta after the Everton defeat. “Every single day. That’s why I picked him.”
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