I was worth millions at Arsenal - nobody saw what happened with Mikel Arteta after huge transfer

Nicolas Pepe has lifted the lid on his 'tense and frustrating' relationship with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Pepe, who joined the Gunners from Lille for a then club record £72million in August 2019, was signed by Unai Emery but spent less than six months working under him before he was sacked. Arsenal decided to replace Emery with Arteta, who had spent the previous three years with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

The Ivorian came off the bench in Arteta's first game in charge - a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth - but started and scored in his maiden win against Manchester United on New Year's Day 2020. He inspired a 4-0 win over Newcastle the following month and helped Arsenal win the FA Cup later that season.

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Pepe finished his first season at Arsenal with eight goals and he doubled that tally in the 2020/21 campaign, scoring 16 times in 47 matches across all competitions. Although Pepe's form was impressive, there were issues bubbling under the surface. The main one was his relationship with Arteta.

Speaking to The Athletic, Pepe has opened up on why it didn't work between him and Arteta - a relationship which created some "tension". He said: "With Arteta, it wasn't… well, it was good at the start.

"After that, the confidence wasn't really there. I got less and less game time, so there was some frustration. I'm not someone who likes being on the bench every week without justification or explanation. So yeah, that's something that created some tension."

Pepe spent four years at Arsenal before he was released in September 2023. He scored 27 goals in 112 appearances during his time at the club, winning one major trophy. At the time, the £72m Arsenal paid for his services was a club record before Declan Rice's £105m switch from West Ham smashed that figure.

"When a club pays that much for you, the little details don't matter," Pepe said. "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.

"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 Messi and Ronaldo who did that. Arsenal spent a lot of money on me and I paid the price for it."