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Former Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has expressed his liking towards Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe, suggesting he's been judged harshly. The Ivory Coast international is currently out of favor at the Emirates and has more or less become a bench warmer since last season.
A club-record fee of £72 million has evidently weighed heavily on his shoulders and put him under more pressure to perform regularly on the big stage. Pepe's failure to live up to the hype of his price tag was a matter of discussion on the White and Jordan show as well, where Murphy was one of the guests.
He interrupted host Simon Jordan to defend the Arsenal winger, particularly talking about his stats from the 2020-21 campaign and suggesting that people look beyond his transfer fee. The former Tottenham man said, via talkSPORT:
"You have to look past this. Just on Pepe, I quite like him. He’s a talented player. But his first two seasons were alright. His second season, when he became a bit more settled, he got 16 goals in 47 games.
That’s a lot more than a lot of players who we say are good players in the Premier League. 16 goals in 47 games is not bad. The season after, he fell away, probably because of Saka and Emile Smith Rowe coming through and taking his place.”
The winger has lacked consistency in his performances and has been ineffective in the final third on many occasions. He has often chosen to dribble past defenders rather than being direct in attacking scenarios, which has turned out to be quite wasteful.
Pepe's poor understanding of the game and ordinary workrate has not helped his cause either. But one look at his statistics, as Murphy pointed out, and they aren't particularly bad. The Arsenal winger has made 112 appearances for the club since 2019 and has scored 27 goals and provided 21 assists.
Mikel Arteta wants to give him a chance to find his footing again and could loan him out this summer back to Ligue 1. Foot Mercato reported that French club OGC Nice are interested in signing the player on loan and Arsenal are open to a temporary switch. Talks have already taken place between Nice's representatives and Pepe's entourage.
Aston Villa interested in signing Arsenal centre-back
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard is looking for reinforcements after summer signing Diego Carlos suffered an Achilles tendon injury in their 2-1 win against Everton. Estadio Deportivo reported that Gunners' Rob Holding is on the Villans' radar with the former Sevilla man sidelined for at least nine months.
The English centre-back has fallen below the likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Ben White in the pecking order at Arsenal. He could be interested in a switch to Villa Park to get more game time and could reunite with former Arsenal teammate Calum Chambers.
Chambers also signed for Villa to play regularly and since joining Gerrard's team in January, he has made 12 league appearances.
