Nicolas Pepe's Arsenal nightmare has finally come to an end.
The Ivory Coast international, 27, joined Nice on a season-long loan on Thursday, ending his three-year spell at the Emirates. He still has two years left on his deal and could see out the final 12 months of it in London, yet it seems unlikely he'll play for the Gunners again.
Pepe will forever be known as one of the biggest flops in Premier League history. He cost Arsenal a whopping £72million when he arrived from Lille in August 2019 but scored just 27 goals for the club, with only three of those coming last season.
There was some hope he could fulfil his promise after the 2020/21 campaign as he scored 16 goals in all competitions, but he failed to earn Mikel Arteta's trust. Looking back, it's strange to think Arsenal signed Pepe instead of Crystal Palace talisman Wilfried Zaha.
Pepe's valuation was high when he joined the Gunners, scoring 23 goals during his final season at Lille. But was he worth £72m? Not in hindsight, but even at the time it was doubtful. Yet Arsenal clearly thought he was a better option than alternative target Zaha.
Pepe's Ivory Coast team-mate scored just 10 Premier League goals during the 2018/19 campaign, but at least he was proven in England. Zaha, now 29, was perplexed by Arsenal's decision to invest a huge some of money in Pepe, rather than himself.
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"I had a conversation with the manager [Unai Emery], actually," Zaha told Jamie Carragher on The Greatest Games podcast. "He was just like, 'we don't need to go through much'. He’s seen me play, he knows I can change games at any time and stuff like that.
"It was like, 'yeah, we’d love to have you'. And I was like, 'I'd love to come'. The conversation was rather straightforward because I've played against him when he's managed Arsenal, he's seen what I can do, he’s seen my work rate, what I can add to the team. Obviously, it was up to the club who they chose, and obviously they chose Pepe over me."
Emery, who was sacked four months after that transfer decision was made, has even admitted that he wanted to sign Zaha instead of Pepe. "Pepe is a good player but he needs time," he told the Daily Mail. "When I was there he didn't give me the performances.
"I was in favour of someone coming who knew the English league, more than anything so that he wouldn't need a period of adaptation. I had a meeting with Zaha, the Palace player. He was the player I wanted because I could see that he won so many games on his own.
"I saw 20 Zaha games, some incredible performances and I told them that this is the player that I want for this team. I spoke to Zaha. I had been with him personally. And he wanted to come. But the club decided that Pepe was younger, he was one for the future. I said. 'yes, but we need to win now and this lad [Zaha] wins games'. He did it to us!"
Pepe wasn't just the younger option, but he was the cheaper option. Palace reportedly wanted £100m for Zaha, with some outlets claiming the asking price was as high as £120m. At around £10m per goal, it's easy to see why Arsenal looked at alternatives.
Palace are now expected to receive absolutely nothing for Zaha - with his contract expiring in just 10 months' time - unless a transfer can be agreed this summer. Arsenal are on the lookout for a winger, but Zaha's name isn't being mentioned in the gossip columns.
The Gunners may not have gone against Emery's wishes if Zaha was available for £72m three years ago. In the end, the move didn't work out for either Arsenal or Pepe. The latter will be hoping his switch to Nice will reignite his stuttering career.
