Never living up to expectations following his €80m move from Lille, Arsenal’s Nicolas Pépé was sent on loan to OGC Nice for the season.
There was excitement surrounding the move, as the hope was for the Ivory Coast international to recapture his form in the south of France in order to either reintegrate Mikel Arteta’s side or be sold this summer.
Unfortunately, none of that happened, which is why Nice-Matin label the Arsenal player one of the ‘flops’ of the season at the Ligue 1 side.
They don’t hold back on their words, either, as they state the 28-year-old was ‘often disappointing’ when he wasn’t injured.
Not only that, but his ‘nonchalant attitude’ on the pitch and his ‘lack of efficiency’ in front of goal really didn’t earn him any brownie points, leaving his total to eight goals in 28 appearances, with three of those being penalties,
This is deemed ‘too low of a ratio’ to convince the club to push for a permanent transfer, meaning Pépé is now expected to return to Arsenal, where he will become an expensive headache for both Arteta and Edu Gaspar, who will have to find a solution for him in the summer transfer window.
