In the early days of the Arteta reign, he made some puzzling signings such as William, Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares. Yet, in the present day, there have been very few misses.

While the Gunners missed out on Vinicius Junior over the summer, they did sign Bruno Guimaraes, a player who made an almighty impact on Saturday by scoring a long-range howitzer against Sunderland.

In recent years, they've raided the Premier League to sign some of the best players in England. Take David Raya and Declan Rice for example. Kai Havertz hasn't been half bad either.

Sadly, however, one of their investments from the top-flight has been rather poor, and he's beginning to become a modern-day Nicolas Pepe.

What went wrong for Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal

In the summer of 2019, Arsenal broke their transfer record to sign Pepe from French side Lille in a deal worth £72m.

At the time, Unai Emery was the manager, but this was not a move sanctioned or authorised by the Spaniard. As the now Aston Villa manager later revealed, he wanted Wilfried Zaha instead.

"I was in favour of someone coming who knew the English league more than anything so that he wouldn't need a period of adaptation," Emery began. It's a ploy Arteta has used brilliantly since becoming Arsenal manager, so there is proof it works.

Emery continued: "I had a meeting with Zaha. He was the player I wanted because I could see that he won so many games on his own. I saw 20 Zaha games, some incredible performances and I told them that this is the player that I want for this team. I spoke to Zaha. I had been with him personally. And he wanted to come. But the club decided that Pepe was younger; he was one for the future."

Well, the decision-makers at the Emirates Stadium should have listened. From a financial point of view, Pepe's move was a disaster.

What exactly went wrong? Well, in all honesty, the Ivorian's numbers at Arsenal were not awful. In his first season in north London he scored eight goals and provided ten assists.

Sure, those numbers were not reflective of his price tag, but he did improve in 2020/21. The winger crashed home 16 goals across all competitions. He was capable of some magical moments, including two free-kicks in one game in the Europa League.

However, he was lacking in plenty of areas. His gangly style was not particularly easy on the eye, his technique left something to be desired and his end product was simply all too infrequent.

In 2021/22, Arteta began phasing him out. This came at the same time as Bukayo Saka broke through. Really, Pepe had no chance of usurping such a vibrant and talented young winger.

At the end of his Arsenal adventure, he eventually left on a free transfer. Financially, this move was a mess.

Arsenal's modern-day Pepe is emerging

Arsenal's recruitment has been exceptional over the last three years, in particular.

In the summer of 2023, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz all arrived. In the summer of 2024, David Raya signed on a permanent basis, joining the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.

A year ago, it was the turn of Martin Zubimendi, Piero Hincapie and Viktor Gyokeres to join. They were acquired alongside Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze.

Okay, so there were some questionable buys a year ago, but they all played their part in ending Arsenal's two-decade-long wait for a Premier League title. For that, fans will be forever grateful.

The worrying thing is that none of the players acquired by Andrea Berta a year ago are now regulars in the starting lineup. Gyokeres has only played 12 minutes of Premier League football this season while Madueke has played 23 and Eze 68.

The case of Eze is a curious one. In 2025, he arrived to much fanfare. Arsenal had hijacked Tottenham's move to sign a player who they once released from the Hale End academy as a boy.

The attacking midfielder had come full circle, returning home. He boasted a beaming smile as he was paraded in front of supporters for the first time.

Yet, a year after arriving, Eze has proven to be frustrating, perhaps as much as Pepe in Arsenal colours. Like Pepe, however, he has had his magic moments and his numbers have not been a total disaster.

During his first season under Arteta's wing, the 28-year-old scored ten goals and registered six assists. It's a near identical first campaign to the Ivorian's.

Eze popped up in some big moments, scoring a famous hat-trick against Tottenham. However, that is about as good as it has got for the £67m arrival.

While he has shown glimpses of the player who dazzled so brightly at Crystal Palace, he hasn't lived up the hype, much like Pepe. He's a frustrating character and has proven as much in the early stages of 2026/27.

Off the bench against Aston Villa, the England international put in a much better performance than Christos Tzolis had done. However, when given his first start of the term against Napoli in the Champions League last week, he severely underwhelmed. In that tie, he was subbed off after 66 minutes having failed to have much of an impact.

He created one big chance, a headed pass for Mikel Merino, but that aside did not offer much. Eze won only two of his seven duels and didn't complete either of his two dribble attempts either.

The parallels with Pepe are clear. A big-money attacking signing, like the Ivorian, Eze has failed to ever really generate much consistency at Arsenal. For £67m, you'd expect far more. Unfortunately, it would be a surprise if the former Palace man is at Arsenal for more than two or three seasons.