Nicolas Pepe has agreed to cut his salary by 25 per cent to join Nice on loan. It was still a colossal waste of money for Arsenal.
There was a lot of excitement among Arsenal supporters when they signed Pepe from Lille in the summer of 2019.
While the young Ivorian player cost the club €79 million, surpassing the previous record of €62 million that Arsenal paid Borussia Dortmund to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2018, he looked like one of the most promising players in the game at the time.
In his final season at Lille, Pepe stole 23 goals and 11 assists in all competitions averaging a goal every 96 minutes played, finding the goal both on home and away against Paris Saint-Germain in the process.
Nicholas Pepe’s first season in the Premier League was better than Jadon Sancho 👀 pic.twitter.com/7wsABp6HEQ
Football Transfers (Transfersdotcom) May 9, 2022
Three seasons and just 16 goals after that, Pepe returned to France on a one-season loan to Nice with no option to make the deal permanent – not to say Ligue 1 would lose even half of what Arsenal paid for, whether that be successful or not. .
“There were ups and downs,” Pepe told Nice’s official website about his time at Arsenal. “In the first season I managed to win two titles, the FA Cup and the Community Shield, which is no small feat.
“The following season, we unfortunately failed in the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal. It was more complicated after that, but I only remember the good things.”
Perhaps one of the best things about Pepe’s time at Arsenal was his salary. For 10 million euros a season in the Emirates, the winger earned more than double the salary of new captain Martin Odegaard in base salary.
How much did Baby Arsenal cost?
He has agreed to cut his salary by 25 per cent to facilitate his move to the French Riviera, which puts his annual income at 7.5 million euros. Arsenal and Nice each pay half of that, so this season Pepe will cost 3.75 million euros.
The three seasons he spent in north London were worth €10 million each, bringing spending on his salary to €33.75 million by the end of the current campaign. Add his 2019 transfer fee and Pepe cost 112.75 million euros to Arsenal.
Twenty-three goals in his final season at Lille, Pepe scored 27 goals in three games for Arsenal. Admittedly, a winger who is expected to create plenty of chances, which still cost Arsenal nearly €4.2m per goal.
