‘Pepe a £72m risk that hasn’t paid off for Arsenal’ – Nicholas questions Gunners’ transfer policy

Nicolas Pepe is an expensive £72 million ($92m) risk that has not paid off for Arsenal, says Charlie Nicholas, with the Gunners seeing their transfer policy questioned once again.

During the reign of Arsene Wenger in north London, much of the criticism regarding recruitment was focused on an apparent reluctance to spend.

The purse strings were loosened for Unai Emery over the summer, with a club-record deal put in place as Pepe was lured away from Ligue 1 outfit Lille.

He arrived in England amid great expectation, but has struggled to deliver during a testing debut campaign.

Nicholas has questioned whether the 24-year-old – another creative influence in the final third – was even required, with it not difficult to argue that funds could have been better used elsewhere.

The former Gunners striker told Sky Sports: “Has Emery made it better at Arsenal since Arsene Wenger’s departure? No. Things have definitely got worse, but Emery shouldn’t get all the blame. Other mistakes have been made along the way.

“The defending is one thing that has certainly got worse and the money they spent in the summer has not improved them at all. Nicolas Pepe is struggling to get in a team which paid £72m – a club record – to sign him. Dani Ceballos started the season well. He is a talented player, but does his talent fit into this system?

“The guys in front are expected to be better but the attacking side of things has lost its way. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette don’t know what they are trying to do or what the style is. They want to get on the ball and make things happen, but they do not have any runners since Aaron Ramsey left the club to join Juventus.”

Nicholas added on the unnecessary purchase of Pepe, who has just one Premier League goal to his name: “I said that, at the time, Pepe was a risky move for that amount of money. Pepe has got great potential but is not the one I think we needed to jump on. I like to play from the front, but the back needed sorting.

“They spent £72m on a potential talent going forward, when we have the likes of Saka, Nelson and Martinelli to potentially play these roles, it was strange to me.

“I don’t understand how they spent over £100m, let a defender go and brought in a winger. Have you not seen where the problems have been for the past five years? They couldn’t wait to get Laurent Koscielny out, Sokratis Papastathopoulos is adding nothing to Arsenal and Shkodran Mustafi is finished at Arsenal. Petr Cech also moved on, so they needed to rebuild the defence. Did they do it?

“Kieran Tierney came in for £25m but he’s needed time to get fit. He will be decent once fully fit, but Arsenal should be planning to sort their defensive problems out now, and they haven’t done it.

“The manager shouldn’t take all of the blame, but he should burden most of it. I don’t know how they have worked out on spending £72m on a winger when that is not the essence of what the team required. It has been a problem for years and until it is resolved things will not improve.”

Defensive issues, along with problems away from home, have been holding Arsenal back again in 2019-20, with uncomfortable questions being asked of Emery amid a run of form which has delivered just one win in seven and left the Gunners eight points adrift of the Premier League’s top four.