Signing Berta is in danger of becoming Arsenal’s biggest mistake since Pepe

Though the loss to Aston Villa took some wind out of the equation, Arsenal are nonetheless having an awesome season.

Mikel Arteta’s aspect are high of the Champions League with 5 wins out of 5, however are nonetheless two factors away from the Premier League leaders.

Nevertheless, whereas many of the group is enjoying on the anticipated degree, a number of star gamers usually are not on the degree the coach needs them to be.

This latter camp contains one among Arteta’s most essential signings and will change into Arsenal’s new Nicolas Pepe if he doesn’t begin to develop.

What went unsuitable with Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal

In the summertime of 2019, after Unai Emery’s first season within the dugout, Arsenal determined to make a giant transfer within the switch market and spent round £72m on Pepe, the membership’s document price on the time.

These numbers raised some eyebrows on the time, however the winger’s sensational 23 targets and 12 assists in 41 appearances in 2017/18 meant they weren’t thought of all that outlandish.

Sadly, the Emirates trustworthy would by no means see the proficient worldwide attain that degree throughout his time in North London.

In his first marketing campaign in England, the previous LOSC Lille star had an honest, if barely underwhelming, run of eight targets and 10 assists in 42 appearances.

Nevertheless, it was his first season within the new league and followers gave him some leeway as he scored within the quarter-finals, semi-finals and closing of the FA Cup.

Sadly, he was not capable of obtain his finest outcomes with Lille the next season both, ending with 16 targets and 5 assists in 47 video games, 10 of which got here within the Europa League.

Bukayo Saka is now Arteta’s first-choice right-winger and the 21/22 season might be his final red-and-white look.

The 30-year-old spent the following two years on mortgage, first with Good in France after which with Trabzonspor in Turkey.

Arsenal finally agreed to terminate Pepe’s contract in the summertime of 2024, however the participant who was to change into the membership’s celebrity attacker departed after a middling 27 targets and 21 assists in 112 appearances.

The Gunners have gotten a bit of higher at spending cash since then, however there’s one participant Arteta has signed who may find yourself following the Ivorian’s path except he improves rapidly.

Arsenal’s new signing Nicolas Pepe

Now, it is nonetheless early within the season, so it will be unwise to make any concrete predictions about Arsenal’s summer time signings.

Nevertheless, because it stands, the one attacker who may observe the same path to Pepe is Victor Goqueres, who has seen a slight decline in type since his big-money transfer.

Just like the Ivorian, the Swedish worldwide joined the Gunners for a big price after a really sensational season in a weaker league.

For instance, the “absolute steam locomotive,” as analyst Ben Mattinson dubbed him, scored 54 targets and dished out 13 assists in simply 52 appearances.

Furthermore, whereas nobody anticipated him to repeat these numbers in England, followers would have anticipated greater than he has achieved to date.

For instance, the 27-year-old’s document of simply six targets in 17 appearances isn’t underwhelming, even when he hasn’t been an enormous failure like a number of the different strikers signed this season.

Moreover, all 4 of his Premier League targets have come towards relegation candidates, and he seemed a bit off-kilter towards huge groups earlier within the season. As Gary Neville mentioned earlier this time period, he is a little bit of a “misfit”.

Lastly, with Mikel Merino contributing up entrance, Gabriel Jesus returning to the matchday squad and Kai Havertz reportedly set to return instantly as Arteta’s first alternative earlier than Christmas, it isn’t laborious to see a world through which the Stockholm-born powerhouse turns into a rotation possibility.

This was additionally evident within the match towards Aston Villa. Arteta made modifications to the Swede, bringing him on for Merino at half-time. Nevertheless, in 45 minutes on the sector, the middle ahead had simply 11 touches on the ball and accomplished simply 4 passes. He did not get a single shot.

That mentioned, there’s nonetheless loads of time for the previous Coventry Metropolis star to hit the mark. Particularly if he begins the following two matches towards Membership Brugge and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In spite of everything, the following six months might be essential in figuring out whether or not Gokeres turns into Arsenal’s subsequent celebrity striker or the following Nicolas Pepe.