Although the loss to Aston Villa took some wind out of the equation, Arsenal are still having a great season.
Mikel Arteta’s side are top of the Champions League with five wins out of five, but are still two points clear of the Premier League leaders.
However, while most of the team is playing at the expected level, several star players are not at the level the coach wants them to be.
This latter camp includes one of Arteta’s most important signings and could become Arsenal’s new Nicolas Pepe if he does not start to develop.
What went wrong with Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal
In the summer of 2019, after Unai Emery’s first season in the dugout, Arsenal decided to make a big move in the transfer market and spent around £72m on Pepe, the club’s record fee at the time.
Those numbers raised some eyebrows at the time, but the winger’s sensational 23 goals and 12 assists in 41 appearances in 2017/18 meant they weren’t considered all that outlandish.
Unfortunately, the Emirates faithful would never see the talented international reach that level during his time in North London.
In his first campaign in England, the former LOSC Lille star had a decent, if slightly underwhelming, run of eight goals and 10 assists in 42 appearances.
However, it was his first season in the new league and fans gave him some leeway as he scored in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the FA Cup.
Unfortunately, he was not able to achieve his best numbers with Lille the following season either, finishing with 16 goals and 5 assists in 47 games, 10 of which came in the Europa League.
Bukayo Saka is now Arteta’s first-choice right-winger and the 21/22 season will be his last red-and-white appearance.
The 30-year-old spent the next two years on loan, first with Nice in France and then with Trabzonspor in Turkey.
Arsenal ultimately agreed to terminate Pepe’s contract in the summer of 2024, but the player who was to become the club’s superstar attacker departed after a middling 27 goals and 21 assists in 112 appearances.
The Gunners have gotten a little better at spending money since then, but there is one player Arteta has signed who could end up following the Ivorian’s path unless he improves quickly.
Arsenal’s new signing Nicolas Pepe
Now, it’s still early in the season, so it would be unwise to make any concrete predictions about Arsenal’s summer signings.
However, as it stands, the only attacker who could follow a similar path to Pepe is Victor Goqueres, who has seen a slight decline in form since his big-money move.
Like the Ivorian, the Swedish international joined the Gunners for a significant fee after a truly sensational season in a weaker league.
For example, the “absolute steam locomotive,” as analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him, scored 54 goals and dished out 13 assists in just 52 appearances.
Moreover, while no one expected him to repeat those numbers in England, fans would have expected more than he has achieved so far.
For example, the 27-year-old’s record of just six goals in 17 appearances is not underwhelming, even if he hasn’t been a huge failure like some of the other strikers signed this season.
Furthermore, all four of his Premier League goals have come against relegation candidates, and he looked a bit off-kilter against big teams earlier in the season. As Gary Neville said earlier this term, he’s a bit of a “misfit”.
Finally, with Mikel Merino contributing up front, Gabriel Jesus returning to the matchday squad and Kai Havertz reportedly set to return immediately as Arteta’s first choice before Christmas, it’s not hard to see a world in which the Stockholm-born powerhouse becomes a rotation option.
This was also evident in the match against Aston Villa. Arteta made changes to the Swede, bringing him on for Merino at half-time. However, in 45 minutes on the field, the center forward had just 11 touches on the ball and completed just four passes. He didn’t get a single shot.
That said, there’s still plenty of time for the former Coventry City star to hit the mark. Especially if he starts the next two matches against Club Brugge and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After all, the next six months will be crucial in determining whether Gokeres becomes Arsenal’s next superstar striker or the next Nicolas Pepe.
New Ozil: Arsenal step up move to sign £88m ‘generational talent’
This incredible talent could be a real game-changer for Arsenal and become Arteta’s own Mesut Ozil.
