Liverpool icon Michael Owen and Arsenal legend Martin Keown both have strong opinions about the signing of former Lille winger Nicolas Pepe in a deal worth a club-record £72 million.
The BT Sport pundits didn't hold back with their criticisms for Pepe, both believing that the £72 million deal has failed to make sense for Arsenal so far. According to Keown, the Gunners overpaid for the Ivory Coast international.
Pepe earned Lille 22 goals in the Ligue 1 last season, but the star has failed to set the same energy in the Premier League, scoring once in his first seven matches for Arsenal. Just this week, he admitted that his confidence has taken a hit.
The 24-year-old was benched for the Gunners' Europa League match against Standard Liege on Thursday. After entering the pitch with less than 30 minutes remaining, he failed to make much of an impact as well.
Pepe clearly didn't start in Arsenal's 4-0 victory over Standard, but that didn't stop Owen and Keown from slamming the player, especially after noticing Gabriel Martinelli's impressive performance, who at 18 has already bagged a brace for the Gunners.
"He [Pepe] started the first game and looked like he had a bag of tricks but he's just gone off the boil," Owen commented on BT Sport.
Keown also expressed his disappointment and said that Pepe could become Arsenal's costly mistake if he fails to up his performance and that the Ligue 1 side is probably "laughing all the way to the bank."
While Owen and Keown were clearly not happy with how things turned out for Pepe and Arsenal, both pundits agree that there's still time for Pepe to turn things around, considering we're still at the early days of the season.
Arsenal's Europa League clash against Standard Liege resulted in a 4-0 win for the English club, but Unai Emery's decisions have again been put into question after leaving out Mesut Ozil from the squad.
Emery insisted that his decision is purely based on what he believes is best for each match, and his goal is to choose the best players he finds fitting in his matchday squad.
Arsenal have been favoring their young players this season, including Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, and Joe Willock, all of whom have enjoyed first-team action.
The Gunners' next match will take place on Sunday, with the club preparing to win over Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium.
