Nicolas Pepe: 2019/20 Performances

[roz]

I know Mendes was brought in to broker the deal and he isnt cheap

Mad really when you try to imagine what happens at a transfer discussion for Mendes to have to be called in to get it over the line. Crazy.

 

[celestis]

Trust me, I am far from ugly, thankfully.

Not the tallest obviously, but very handsome.

I wouldn’t sledge you about being ugly if I actually thought you were ugly. You’re too secure to be ugly.

 

[Jasard]

I think it is no coincidence this is leaked at the same time we are changing our recruitment structure. This will just be one of the deals the club will be looking at and deciding if the process that got us to approving such a fee is a good process or not.

 

[OnlyOne]

I wouldn’t sledge you about being ugly if I actually thought you were ugly. You’re too secure to be ugly.

Easy to act secure on a forum tho, I'll honestly drop my Insta on here one day and do the big reveal, maybe if Arsenal win the league soon.

 

[MikelHadADream]

Mad really when you try to imagine what happens at a transfer discussion for Mendes to have to be called in to get it over the line. Crazy.

Again, who's to say Arsenal were the ones the brought Mendes in. From what I've heard Mendes is very very close with Lille's sporting director, Luis Campos.
I'd think any deal you do with Lille probably involves Mendes in one way or another for this reason.

Of course it didn't get reported like that in the press as it doesn't seem to fit a certain narrative...

 

[roz]

Again, who's to say Arsenal were the ones the brought Mendes in. From what I've heard Mendes is very very close with Lille's sporting director, Luis Campos.
I'd think any deal you do with Lille probably involves Mendes in one way or another for this reason.

Of course it didn't get reported like that in the press as it doesn't seem to fit a certain narrative...

Regardless of who got Mendes involved it just seems weird to bring in a 3rd party, then again guess you would if you got £72 million every time

 

[MikelHadADream]

Regardless of who got Mendes involved it just seems weird to bring in a 3rd party, then again guess you would if you got £72 million every time

Is it really that weird though? Its a big deal with a club that have very strong ties to a particular agent. Real Madrid have used Jorge Mendes extensively in the past for example, I think its just the way the game is now.

I'd much rather be in bed with these agents and be in with a shout of landing the most in demand players in world, than following the Wenger model which resulted in us struggling to sign even mediocre players.

 

[BigPoppaPump]

Coming to think of it I’m done with the Pepe being overpriced thing. When I actually think about it pretty much all signing above 50 million are a rip off. I can count so many players who aren’t worth the money paid, @Macho was right I can admit that.

 

[Sniper Mik]

Poor guy had such a good end to the season and now all of it is being undone because the club can't handle PR

 

[roz]

Is it really that weird though? Its a big deal with a club that have very strong ties to a particular agent. Real Madrid have used Jorge Mendes extensively in the past for example, I think its just the way the game is now.

I'd much rather be in bed with these agents and be in with a shout of landing the most in demand players in world, than following the Wenger model which resulted in us struggling to sign even mediocre players.

Sure now we overpay for mediocre players

I kid, actually a fan of Pepe who’s had a decent first season.

Still though, its a shame football has got to this point of ever growing influence of agents. Why two clubs cant sit down round a table and come to an agreement is really beyond me.

I suppose time will tell if its a good thing we’re also in bed with the devil.
Think its safe to say if there’s no marked improvement at the end of next season and we’re stuck with overpaid/ageing players then its not a good thing at all. Big season for the higher ups. No more get out of jail free cards.

 

[gunner4lyfe]

If he turns up better next season it wont matter to me. We wanted the club to show some ambition and they did. We all wanted Pepe. We all thought 72m was too much at the time but we all knew he was good.

 

[dka1]

Coming to think of it I’m done with the Pepe being overpriced thing. When I actually think about it pretty much all signing above 50 million are a rip off. I can count so many players who aren’t worth the money paid, @Macho was right I can admit that.

Yeah, I mean as much as I hate Raul and I'm not happy hearing about the dodgy part of the deal.

Us paying 72M (dodgy part removed) I'm not that unhappy about. But it's because I think Pepe will come good this coming season to the point that we won't care about how much we paid for him.

Obviously we probably could've spent the money more appropriately and maybe I'm clouded by optimism as I do really like Pepe.

 

[Trilly]

Easy to act secure on a forum tho, I'll honestly drop my Insta on here one day and do the big reveal, maybe if Arsenal win the league soon.

Can’t wait.

Maybe we should exchange. Would be quite jokes.

 

[Kav]

I'd much rather be in bed with these agents and be in with a shout of landing the most in demand players in world, than following the Wenger model which resulted in us struggling to sign even mediocre players.

You know this sounds like something a gold digger would say. She doesn't mind laying on her back sleeping with old farts to get her up the ladder than being with a principled young man who has his head on his shoulders but certainly poorer.

 

[squallman]

It’s from ESPN

Is the club run by idiots?

I hope the Mail is just blatantly making up stories again and this didn't come from one of ours.

What can even come from a story like this on the recruitment side? We agree not to pay so much for one player again? There needs to be an investigation launched to come to that conclusion?

Who puts out a story like this about a current player? Footballers are a fragile bunch as is, let alone our lot.

How is this going to have anything but a negative effect on Pepe? It is basically telling him "Well you're so awful we're going to launch a public investigation into why we paid so much for you. Hope you manage to earn your keep next season lad."

Idiots.

 

[Makavelii]

I really get confused by the idea that Pep is a flop.

I wonder if it’s because people expected him to keep scoring at the same rate as he was in Lille? That was never gonna happen.

Just noticed - according to WhoScored’s stats algorithm, Pepe performed the best of any Arsenal player last season just ahead of Auba who was #2.

His 1:1 stats go without saying are amazing as we see in the video above.
But his passing stats are surprisingly really good for a player that far up the pitch and for how many risky key passes he makes.

I’m thinking that 72 mill was well spent. Quickly becoming my favourite player.

In addition to the quoted above points I made last week:

• In Eden hazards first EPL season for Chelsea scored in 20% of games played.
• Pepe is his first EPL season with Arsenal scored in 19% of games played.
• Not sure about assists but I’m sure they’re not too dissimilar either.
• He was strong and consistent in all areas of his game after the Covid break. This shows he’s adapting and improving.
• He’s also barely been injured in his career. Reliable durable top quality player which is uniquely valuable for us.

 

[Makavelii]

Despite having a 'subpar' season he still contribute 20 G/A. That's remarkable. But the usual suspects will write him off because he didn't score messi-esque solo goals

This.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Did neither pass the eye test or stat test for me this season. Just doesn't seems to have that killer instinct or football knowledge to be our attacking leader.

But Arteta is a miracle worker and he can turn dust into gold! I have faith!

 

[Beksl]

Poor guy had such a good end to the season and now all of it is being undone because the club can't handle PR

How can you handle your PR internally if a random bloke can post whatever he/she wants on social media and people believe it?

 

[Sniper Mik]

How can you handle your PR internally if a random bloke can post whatever he/she wants on social media and people believe it?

I'm not a PR expert but if there is any merit to this story then you have to investigate how it got out. If it's conjured out of thin air then you gotta come out with a statement. It's not just this issue. The way the 55 redundancies announcement was made, could've been so much better. Now every time we're gonna spend money on any player, the media is gonna be printing stories about how we're a heartless club. Daniel Storey already came out with one such piece yesterday.