Arsenal’s record signing after a flop in England didn’t shine on his return to France. The coach spared no criticism

The 2018/19 season was very interesting in the French Ligue 1. Lille won the title and one of the best players in the competition was Nicolas Pépé. He earned a transfer to the famous Arsenal. However, he never made a name for himself in his jersey. So he returned to France in the summer and hasn’t shone there either.

Nicolas Pépé played two seasons for Lille. However, in both he showed that he is a quality player. The second one in particular was top class. In the league alone, he scored 22 goals and added 11 assists. He was one of the main architects of the title.

It was his quality that Mikel Arteta wanted in his team. So Arsenal bought him for 80 million euros. He made him the most expensive player in the club’s history. However, the Ivorian did not live up to expectations.

Yet his second season in England was not bad despite the time he played. But you could tell he was struggling. And last season was no different. That was when he made sporadic appearances.

So Arsenal decided to send him out on loan. Pépé chose to return to France, specifically Nice. But no sooner had he made his debut than he faced further criticism. He played the full 90 minutes against Olympique Marseille, when Nice lost 0:3.

His coach, Lucien Favre, went straight at Pépé. Although he understands that Pépé has not played in England for a long time and has not played a single minute in preparation for the season, his criticism was directed elsewhere.

“He lacks rhythm, intensity, pressing and the desire to win the ball back quickly. That’s what everybody has to do. There are no exceptions. If one or two players don’t do their job, the whole team gets into trouble. Everyone has to defend,” Goal quotes Favre as saying.

Source: Goal, Arsenal, OGC Nice