Ex-Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe admits he considered retiring after ‘trauma’ from failing to justify huge price tag
Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe has revealed the 'trauma' of his spell in north London almost led to him quitting football.
The Ivory Coast international joined the Gunners from Lille in 2019 for a then-club record £72million, but struggled to live up to expectations.
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Arsenal shelled out the huge sum for Pepe after he registered 22 goals and 11 assists in the 2018/19 Ligue 1 season, being outscored only by ex-Paris Saint Germain star Kylian Mbappe.
However, his success in France was unable to translate across to the English top-flight as the now 29-year-old scored just 27 times in 112 appearances in all competitions.
The Gunners would eventually terminate Pepe's contract in September 2023, with the wide man spending his final year registered to the club on loan at Nice.
The France-born player was heavily criticised for his performances whilst at Arsenal, which he admitted took its toll.
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Reflecting on his time at the Emirates in a recent interview with French news outlet , Pepe said: "At Arsenal, I suffered a kind of trauma, as if my passion had been ripped away from me.
"I felt disgust for the game. I was no longer playing, and I asked myself why I was doing this job.
"I doubted myself to the point that I thought about giving it all up. I wondered how people could be so harsh on me. They even called me the biggest flop in the history of the Premier League."
The winger said that his hefty price tag led to unrealistically high expectations of him and his abilities, as he explained: "I hadn't asked Arsenal to pay £72m for me.
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"With a fee that high people don't care what level you come from - they just want you to perform straight away.
"Sadly the reality is that it's statistics above all. Some players score 25 goals a season, but there aren't many of them and I'm not even a number nine.
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"I wasn't going to roll over the Premier League like that. But that's what brought me this wave of criticism."
Pepe felt that this had a negative impact on his ability to perform in north London, as he detailed the harsh treatment that led to him considering a future away from football.
He said: "It was almost harassment. I don't look at social media much, but if my brother told me, 'This is what they said about you,' it would affect me unconsciously.
"It also came from the media or from certain members of the club. They don't realise that it can affect the mental state, the family and it affects performance.
"The only people who always supported me were the Arsenal fans."
The ex-Lille star is currently a free agent after deciding against renewing his one-year deal at Turkish side Trabzonspor, who he joined after the termination of his contract at Arsenal.
And despite rumoured interest from Saudi Arabia, Pepe admitted he is keen to continue to prove his worth in European football.
The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations winner finished by saying: "I still want to show that I can do something. I'm not finished with Europe and with football."
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