“Why are you guys so harsh on me”.
Nicolas Pepe, one of the worst offenders among Arsenal fans, has opened up about his feelings.
“The former Arsenal striker has revealed that the ‘trauma’ he suffered during his time at the club almost led to his early retirement,” British media outlet Sports Bible reported on Nov. 21 (KST).
Nicolas Pepe was one of the best wingers in the French Ligue 1. He is naturally very athletic, carrying the ball well and breaking away to create chances. He also has a unique left-footed kicking ability, which earned him a place in the Ligue 1’s official best 11 in the 2018/2019 season with 22 goals and 11 assists.
Based on this performance, Arsenal snapped him up for a transfer fee of 100 billion. In his first two seasons at the club, he led the team with decent performances, but his transfer fee of 100 billion was widely considered to be overrated.
In the 2021/2022 season, he was a disaster. He was terrible at dribbling and scoring goals, managing just three goals and six assists in 22 league games. To make matters worse, he lost his place in the starting lineup and was labeled as ‘the worst player of all time’.
Pepe, who has a contract until June 2024, went on loan to French side OGC Nice last season, but failed there as well and parted ways with Arsenal to join Trabzonspor in Turkiye.
Nicolas Pepe has opened up about his struggles in the Premier League since his move. In an interview with French publication L’Equipe, Pepe said, “At Arsenal, I went through a kind of trauma, like I was robbed of my passion. I felt a disgust for soccer. I didn’t play soccer anymore and I asked myself why I was doing this,” he said.
He continued, “I doubted myself to the point where I felt like giving 카지노사이트 up on everything. I wondered how people could be so harsh on me. I was even called the biggest failure in the history of the Premier League,” he added.
Pepe joined Arsenal in 2019 from Lille for a then club-record fee of 100 million, a move he claims he was subjected to undue pressure during the process. “With a transfer fee that high, people don’t care what level you come from, they just want you to perform immediately. Sadly, the reality is statistics above all else. There are players who score 25 goals in a season, but I don’t have that many and I’m not even a number nine.”
Pepe admitted that the amount of negative criticism he received affected his performance and led him to consider retiring from soccer. “It was almost like bullying. I don’t really look at social media, but when my brother would say ‘people said this about you’, it would subconsciously affect me. They don’t realize that it can affect your mental state, it can affect your family, it can affect your performance,” he added.
Pepe is currently a free agent after his contract with Trabzonspor expired.