Danny Murphy says he was ‘surprised’ Arsenal allowed Nicolas Pepe to leave the club in the summer after their goalless draw against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.
The former Liverpool midfielder thinks Pepe, who joined OGC Nice on a season-long loan deal, would have been a very good option from the bench because of his ‘skilful’ nature and ability to score a goal.
Mikel Arteta only made one substitution against Newcastle United, who proved to be very hard to break down, with Takehiro Tomiyasu the man coming on for Ben White.
In terms of attacking options, Arteta had the opportunity to bring on summer signing Fabio Vieira or even youngster Marquinhos.
Either way, there’s not exactly a free-flowing glut of options for Arteta to pick from, therefore, should the Gunners should have let Pepe go this summer?
Well, Murphy certainly thinks he should have been kept on board, especially given their current situation where they are pushing for the Premier League title, as he told talkSPORT on Wednesday morning.
“I was surprised and you might disagree with this,” said Murphy. “I know he was up and down, but I was surprised they let Pepe go. Quick, and skilful and he does get you a goal.”
PEPE’S STRUGGLES AT ARSENAL
The French winger was a club-record transfer under Unai Emery, but he struggled big time during his days in north London.
From his 112 games in Arsenal colours, Pepe scored 27 goals and supplied 21 assists, compared to his time at Lille, he had 37 goals from 79 games.
Whilst players like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli improved in an immense manner, it wasn’t the case for Pepe.
So, whilst Arsenal need more attacking quality, especially with Gabriel Jesus’ injury, they are better off looking in the January market, than having someone like Pepe on the bench.
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