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Arsenal have a checkered past when delving into the French market, having brought some of their best-ever stars over from Ligue 1, but also some of their worst.
It is hard to look past the likes of Robert Pires as one of their star imports from that division, to which a true dynasty was built alongside Arsene Wenger.
However, it is likely the promise that replicating such sensational business brings that lends them to make these errors. Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh offer the counter-balance for the successes William Saliba and Olivier Giroud proved to be, and yet Nicolas Pepe stands out amongst all as comfortably the worst of the lot.
The Ivorian stands as the cautionary tale with regard to looking to the French market, as his 2019 transfer to LOSC Lille has been nothing short of catastrophic.
Signed after his breakout year, Unai Emery unloaded a club-record £72m fee to tempt him to join his revolution, which would be cut short just months after this arrival.
The underperformance of this wide man likely weighed heavily on this decision, which will surely have Mikel Arteta thinking twice about making the reported move to sign Elye Wahi from Montpellier.
Whilst the proposed €40m (£34m) fee would mark a drop in the ocean compared to Pepe’s sum, it still represents money they simply cannot afford to waste if they are to keep pace with Manchester City.
How good is Elye Wahi?
Having scored 23 goals and assisted 12 across all competitions in his final season before making the move, many thought that in the left-footed right winger the Gunners would be getting their next true star set to dominate at the Emirates for years to come.
However, five league goals in his debut year in England denoted a fierce struggle to acclimatise, which can be felt by many players moving to such a physically demanding division. He has made just 112 appearances now for the club and seems set to depart this summer for a fraction of his initial price.
The same could well happen to Wahi should he tread that same path, especially given he has arguably even less experience starring at the top level than the 28-year-old had.
Having just notched 19 league goals and assisted a further six most recently, this marked only the second time that the 20-year-old had struck double figures in Ligue 1.
For comparison, Pepe too had only achieved this feat twice before his switch, whilst also being far from the focal point that Wahi has been for his side.
Despite that, praise has understandably rushed in for the youngster who has torn up the French top flight of late. Ex-Caen academy director Francis de Taddeo even noted: “He is a powerful, athletic and fast player with a range of dribbling skills where only he knows what he is going to do next.”
However, the same was said of Arsenal’s underwhelming record signing, with Jamie Redknapp perhaps jumping the gun on his praise, claiming despite a loss to Liverpool in August 2019: “I’ve seen Arsenal come here in the last few years and they haven’t done anything at all. But they have got a special talent in Pepe, I’ve been so impressed with him. He’s always looking to run on the shoulder, he’s causing mayhem.”
He stands as the clear indicator that all that glitter is not gold, especially that which comes from Ligue 1.
Whilst Wahi might seem like the hot prospect to acquire now, a big-money fee could see them face another financial disaster akin to their disastrous 2019 signing of Pepe.
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