You remember Arsenal's €80 million Ligue 1 Silver BootPepeIs it? This is perhaps the worst signing in Arsenal's history, without one. The Ivory Coast winger has been on a free transfer in the last two summer windows and has not been mixed up in the Turkish Super League.

According to official news from La Liga Villarreal, the team has waived the signing of 29-year-old free agent Ivorian winger Nicolas Pepe on a two-year contract until 2026.

Pepe made a name for himself in Ligue 1 Lille,In the 2018-19 season, he scored 22 goals and 11 assists in 38 Ligue 1 games and won the Ligue 1 Silver Boot, a year of fame. In the summer window of 2019, Pepe joined Arsenal in the Premier League from Lille in Ligue 1 for a sky-high transfer fee of 80 million euros, and was the Arsenal standard king before Rice, but the development did not meet expectations, although the return to Ligue 1 on loan to join Nice did not save Pepe, and finally in the summer window of 2023, he transferred to Trabzonspor of the Turkish Super League on a free transfer, but only 1 season later, Pepe left the team on a free transfer again and joined La Liga Villarial.

Pepe is only 29 years old, still in his playing years, 1.83 meters tall, left-footed player, mainly playing the right winger position, and the German transfer price has dropped to 8.5 million euros. Pepe's value in December of the year (2019) after joining Arsenal was as high as 75 million euros, and now it has dropped to about 1/10 of the past, which is a significant reduction. Why can't Pepe get along in the Turkish Super League? Pepe made 23 appearances for Trabzonspor in all competitions last season, starting 14 of them, contributing six goals and three assists, which is really not good in the Turkish Super League.

The 29-year-old can still have a second spring in his career, and I hope he can find his form, regain his confidence and continue a better career in La Liga Villarial. Playing football is a job, or a youth meal, and playing for a few more years is king.