Nicolas Pepe has admitted he considered retiring from football after facing criticism and backlash following his £72million move to Arsenal. The
29-year-old joined the Gunners for a club-record fee in 2019, after the Gunners paid an initial £20m plus a further £52m over five years.
He scored 23 goals in 41 games the previous season, but failed to live up to expectations once he joined the club, playing 112 times and scoring 27 goals during his time with the Gunners. The criticism he faced
at the time was heavy, and Pepe admits it affected his confidence to the point where he considered hanging up his boots.
“It was almost a threat. I don’t really check social media, but if my brothers say ‘this is what they’re saying about you’ then it affects me in an unintentional way,” Pepe told ทางเข้า https://ufabet999.app L’Equipe. “
It also comes from the media and from certain people at the club. They don’t realise the effect it has on me mentally, on my family and on my performances. The only people who always supported me were the Arsenal fans. “
At Arsenal I suffered a scar as if my passion had disappeared. I started to hate football. And I doubted myself to the point where I thought about quitting everything. “
I wondered why they kept on criticising me. They even called me the most failed signing in Premier League history. But I did not give up. “
Pepe scored eight goals and provided 10 assists in 41 games in his first season at Arsenal under Unai Emery. The following season,
Pepe enjoyed his best season at the Emirates Stadium, scoring 16 goals and providing five assists in 47 games, but
his role was reduced a year later, playing just five times in 23 appearances and starting just five. He was sent out on loan to Nice for the 2022-23 season, followed by a move to Trabzonspor the following season after terminating his contract with the north London club.
Pepe is now a free agent after refusing to sign a new deal with Trabzonspor and he is keen to remain in Europe amid interest from the Saudi Arabian side.