3 reasons you’re all wrong about Nicolas Pepe
Arsenal, Nicolas Pepe (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
The unfortunate majority of Arsenal fans are not impressed with record-signing Nicolas Pepe, but here are three reasons that majority is wrong.
In case you haven’t heard the news, I am sick and tired of fans belittling Nicolas Pepe‘s contributions to the club in his first year (!!!) at Arsenal. I mean really folks, how are we already passing such harsh judgment on a guy that has only just gotten here?
Whatever the case, there isn’t a lot of widespread happiness. When he performs, fans swoon, when he doesn’t, they question why we bought him in the first place. Such is the life of a Gooner, being as fair-weather towards individual players as humanly possible.
I’ve made case after case in favor of Pepe and what he’s done this year, but for those of you that have missed it, I’d like to make a nice summary of why everyone is wrong about Nicolas Pepe, all in one fell swoop.
And so, without further ado, I give you the three reasons why the haters are all wrong about Nicolas Pepe. We start with me banging my head against the wall with No. 3.
3. He’s an investment
Say it with me, people—”Nicolas Pepe is an investment.” Not all investments pay off overnight. In fact, very few do. That’s why they’re called an investment. How do I know that Pepe is an investment? Because we’re paying him off over the span of five years. So essentially, we only spent about £15m on Pepe this year. And look at what we got out of him. Come the end of next year, we’ll have spent £30m on him, and we will reevaluate then if he has returned that investment effectively.
There’s this thing called acclimating. Every signing in the history of the sport has had to deal with it in some capacity or another. And yet so many fans continue to forget that it’s a part of the game. When you start a new job, do you immediately know everything and require no training? Nope. Even if you’re just moving between sales firms or marketing agencies.
There is always a learning period. Pepe had one. Get over it.
More snark at No. 2.
