Arsenal’s former-record signing, Nicolas Pepe left North London earlier this month as he made the move to Turkey to join Trabzonspor at the end of the summer transfer window. Nicolas Pepe spent four years at Arsenal, however he failed to hit the heights expected of him after he joined from Lille in a deal worth £72million.
Nicolas Pepe fell out of favour under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal during the 2021/22 campaign, before moving on loan to OGC Nice in France last season. That ended up being the beginning of the end for Pepe in North London as he never really got another opportunity under the Arsenal manager with Bukayo Saka performing so well on the right wing.
Mikel Arteta insists Nicolas Pepe tried really hard to succeed at Arsenal and the reason it didn’t work out was never due to a lack of effort on the players’ side. The Arsenal boss also wished the winger all the best in Turkey as he hopes he can kick on with his new club.
READ MORE: Arsenal want to sign £80million-rated striker in January.
Mikel Arteta on Nicolas Pepe: “What I can say about him as a person is that he’s a phenomenal boy.He tried really hard. It is not his fault the amount of money that we paid at the time and that’s it.
“When things are not working out, you have to move on. There’s no point trying when something is not working and that decision has been made and I think it benefits all parties.
“Obviously, these are sad moments for players…you have an emotional attachment with them. You have tried to get the best out of them. But there are periods and sometimes, it’s not about the will of the player and instead, it’s a player that plays in his position that does so well. There are many factors.
“But we certainly want to wish all of them the best and hopefully they can fulfil the dream somewhere else.:
Nicolas Pepe has signed a one-year contract with Trabzonspor to 2024, with an option to extend for a further year in the hope of more regular first-team football this season.
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