“It was only Messi and Ronaldo who did that” - Nicolas Pepe sheds light on Arsenal fans’ expectations about him after record transfer

Former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe has opened up on his stint at the Emirates. The Ivory Coast international insisted that he found it really difficult to live up to the added pressure caused by his price tag.

Pepe joined the Gunners in a reported £72 million deal from French giants Lille in the summer of 2019. The 29-year-old, who now plies his trade for Villarreal, has admitted that he paid the price for his massive transfer fee. The fleet-footed winger said, as quoted by Metro:

"It was severe and unjust. I saw a lot of nasty comments. When you see what people think of you, it affects you and your family, whether you like it or not. I was young; it was the first time I had left France to play abroad. I had to adapt in lots of ways, but people don’t see that. They only see what happens on the pitch."

Pepe insisted that people expected him to rack up numbers like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He added:

"Automatically, the first player to be criticised is the one that cost a lot of money. You have to be getting goals and assists, goals and assists. People expected 30, 35, 40 goals a season. But it was only [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo who did that. Arsenal spent a lot of money on me and I paid the price for it."

Pepe was formerly Arsenal's most expensive signing before the Gunners shattered their club record fee (£100 million) for Declan Rice in 2023. He scored 27 goals and provided 21 assists in 112 appearances for the north London giants.

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Arsenal star snubs Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as he names favorite footballer of all time

Arsenal winger Raheem Sterling has named Brazilian great Ronaldinho as his favorite football of all time ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to GOAL. Messi and Ronaldo are widely regarded as the greatest players of this generation and possibly of all time.

However, Ronaldinho was once regarded as one of the finest players on the planet and has been hailed by fans and footballers alike. Raheem Sterling has named the Brazilian great as his favorite footballer of all time, naming Neymar and Messi as the next two. The Arsenal winger named Ronaldo Nazario and Cristiano Ronaldo as his fourth and fifth favorite players, respectively.

Ronaldinho played for clubs like Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Barcelona at the peak of his career. At Barca, he scored 94 goals and provided 71 assists in 207 appearances.