When Nicolas Pepe left Arsenal in the summer to join Nice on loan, the move was something of an admittance from the club that their record signing simply had not worked out. Mikel Arteta preferred the young Bukayo Saka over the Ivorian and rarely gave Pepe too many chances to prove him wrong.
The move back to Ligue 1 was expected to provide the Arsenal wantaway with an opportunity to revive the form he showed at Lille that earned him the infamous £72million move. However, since making the switch to France, things have not gone smoothly.
He has so far scored just once in eight matches, his sole goal coming from the penalty spot too. Further to this he has no assists and has been outshone by the likes of Ross Barkley.
