Liverpool were heavily linked with a move for Nicolas Pepe before he became Arsenal’s record signing in a £72m deal in 2019
As much as Arsenal were the ‘plucky underdog’ in the Premier League title race this season, emerging from nowhere to lead the table for the majority of the campaign only to stumble at the final straight as Man City stormed past on their way to an historic treble, they arguably didn’t over-perform as much as you might think.
Sure, they haven’t won the Premier League since 2003/04, haven’t competed in the Champions League since 2016/17, and have won just two FA Cups since Jurgen Klopp took over as Liverpool manager in October 2015. But, at a time when the Reds went on to win everything under their charismatic German manager, was this not just a period in juxtaposition of the Gunners continually under-performing
Before finishing second this season, they had three times finished fifth, once sixth, and twice eighth as their Premier League title drought reached a new low. But they haven’t spent like a side in such depths, with, according to Transfermarkt, only Chelsea (€716.06m) and Manchester United (€613m) recorded a higher net spend than the Gunners’ total of €549.61m since the start of the 2018/19 season.
To put such figures into context, the net spend of Man City and Liverpool, the two sides consistently competing for the Premier League title over the past five seasons, stands at €259.64m and €284.18m respectively over the same time-period.
Of course, both sides’ returns have been bolstered by significant sales along with having already built the majority of their squads to be competing for such titles in the first place. In contrast, the likes of Arsenal have repeatedly splashed the cash, not always successfully, in an attempt to reignite their fortunes.
The most infamous example of such free-spending is club record signing Nicolas Pepe. Which his record will soon be broken if the Gunners are successful in efforts to sign Declan Rice from West Ham United in a deal reportedly set to be worth in excess of £100m with add-ons, the £72m Arsenal spent to land the Ivory Coast forward from Lille in the summer of 2019 remains their current most extravagant outlay.
Admittedly, Pepe had been the breakout star of Ligue 1 in 2018/19, scoring 23 goals and registering 12 assists for a young Lille side and establishing a reputation as one of the brightest young prospects in Europe.
Such form even saw Liverpool fans desperate for their side to land the Ivorian, despite the fact that their own attacking triumvirate of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah had just delivered them the Champions League.
Reports in France were adamant that the Reds were in for the winger, and were even favourites to land his signature. Yet, with his favoured position the same inverted wide-forward role from the right as Salah, it remains a mystery how anyone expected Pepe to fit in at Anfield.
