Arsenal slumped to yet another defeat, this time losing to Aston Villa at Villa Park and Nicolas Pepe had yet another poor outing.
The Gunners spent an insane amount of money to bring in the winger last summer but all he has done is disappoint at the club, scoring just five goals in 30 Premier League matches. Against Villa, Nicolas Pepe came off the bench in the 60th minute but once again, he failed to make an impression.
And now speaking about the 25-year-old, Tony Adams has revealed why he was against spending so much money on Nicolas Pepe
Adams told Stadium Astro via Metro: ‘I was very against Pepe to be honest with you because we had [Bukayo] Saka coming through, we’ve got Eddie [Nketiah], Reiss Nelson, [Gabriel] Martinelli.
‘We’ve got a lot of kids that need to play and to go and buy [Pepe for] £72m, I thought it could have been used in different areas.
‘There’s a hell of a relationship that needs to go on between the sports director – who incidentally has got no experience of building European club squads – and the coach.
‘There’s got to be a balance, the coach has got to say him, ‘I’m not going to use [Mesut] Ozil, there you go, get rid of him for us. And then you cut your losses and say, ‘Ok what are you going to use? Do you need a central defender? What do you need Arteta?’
Nicolas Pepe came with a lot of promise from Lille but it’s clear that he is taking too much time to adjust to life in England.
The likes of Nelson, Bukayo Saka have done a great job on the right flank and if Pepe cannot improve his form quick enough then like Mesut Ozil, the Ivorian will also be warming the benches at the Emirates next season.
