Paul Merson isn't convinced that Nicolas Pepe will ever amount to anything at Arsenal and has warned that the Gunners might struggle to sell him in the future.
Pepe, who cost the Gunners a club record £72million just under three years ago, has struggled for game time of late and despite showing glimpses of his quality, the Ivorian has continuously been linked with a move away from the Emirates.
football.london understood that the player was prepared to assess his options if his situation continued to diminish in January. He's responded well since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, however, and recently inspired Arsenal to a late comeback against Wolves by scoring once and adding an assist in the Gunners' 2-1 win.
But although he's starting to show some signs of form in Arsenal colours, Merson doesn't think that he'll ever be consistent enough to properly make a name for himself in north London.
"Don't expect Nicolas Pepe to suddenly become an Arsenal legend - he's a £72m sub they'd bite your hand off to get rid of," Merson wrote in his Daily Star column.
"But even though he came on and won them the game against Wolves last week, you'd be lucky to get £30m for him now.
"We've seen it too many times where he comes on and looks amazing and then he disappears again for weeks.
"It's all about consistency and he's never been able to find it. He hasn't put it together enough for me.
"I don't buy into the theory that he's suddenly going to rip it up for the rest of the season. No chance.
"He is a classic example of modern-day football. Arsenal have a £72m player who, let's be honest, has flopped. And nothing is said about."
Merson continued by suggesting that the Gunners made a huge mistake paying such a huge transfer fee for the tricky winger.
"If he was that good Arteta would be playing him. He just isn't a £72m player.
"I think Arsenal will be hoping he carries it on for the rest of the season and they might get £30m for him.
"But at the moment I don't even see anyone paying that."
The Gunners legend did concede that there's still time for Pepe to repay some of his transfer fee, but he also warned that the Gunners may find it difficult to eventually offload him should they wish to in the summer.
"If Pepe finds a bit of consistency now and helps them get in the top four, he's paid a bit of his money back and they might be able to sell him.
"But will he? That's the big question. They might be stuck with him."
