How Pepe has cost Arsenal £7.2m for every league chance he’s created

Stuart Hodge

Updated: 29 Jan 2022 14:39 GMT
5 min read

Nicolas Pepe was sold by Lille to Arsenal for â¬80m — © ProShots

When Arsenal shelled out a record £72 million fee to bring in Nicolas Pepe from Lille in the summer of 2019, it was assumed by most pundits that he would prove at least a solid acquisition once he acclimated to the Premier League.

Article continues under the video

The club’s success with previous imports from France and Arsenal’s traditional reluctance to part with major money unless they are certain of what they are doing perhaps factored into the assumption. His goal return of 37 in 79 games for Lille, just a shade off of a one-in-two ratio, would also have factored into that assumption.

The reality, though, is that Pepe looks set for the ignominy of being the club’s biggest transfer flop ever unless there is a major turnaround in his Arsenal career.

The 26-year-old has shown flashes at times but Arsenal sporting director Edu is already looking at replacing the player, although he will not be allowed to leave Arsenal during this window. Eintracht Frankfurt star Filip Kostic is majorly on Arsenal’s radar, as one example.

Time is running out for Pepe, despite him being only halfway through his contract.

What has Pepe’s overall cost to Arsenal been?

Upon joining the Gunners, Pepe signed a five-year deal set to pay him £36.4m over length of his contract. That means the total cost of his time at Arsenal, if he should see the contract out, will amount to comfortably over £100m.

Thinking about things in that context sums up just how poor a return Arsenal have had on their investment.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nicolas Pepe (@nicolas.pepe19)

When comparing the money spent, even in terms of the transfer fee alone, to his output on the pitch, the numbers become even more ridiculous:

£710k per game played for Arsenal (101 appearances in all competitions)

£2.76m per goal scored (26 goals in all competitions)

£3.6m per goal created (20 assists in all competitions)

Pepe has struggled primarily with the level of the Premier League and has failed to assert himself in a large number of league matches.

Above all else, that is why his long-term Arsenal future is hanging by a thread. When looking at the stats for that particular competition, the return on investment looks even worse:

£1.04m per league game played (69 Premier League appearances)

£4.8m per goal scored (15 Premier League goal)

£9m per goal created (8 Premier League assists)

£7.2m per key chance created (10 big chances created in Premier League matches)

£1.6m per shot on target (45 shots on target in Premier League matches)