Keown says Lille are ‘laughing all way to the bank’ over £72m Pepe and lays into Arsenal boss Emery for blocking Saka’s progress
MARTIN KEOWN believes Lille will be "laughing all the way to the bank" following Pepe's early struggles at Arsenal.
The Ivorian cost a club-record £72million but has yet to set North London alight with one goal and two assists in nine appearances.
Pepe, 24, has instead been overshadowed by youngster Bukayo Saka who was sensational in the 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Monday.
And former Gunners defender Keown believes Pepe is at danger of stunting the teenager's progress if Unai Emery continues to put his faith in the forward.
Speaking on BT Sports, he said: "If you think back to Arsene Wenger, he would have never of blocked the path of a young player but they are in danger of doing that with Bukayo Saka.
"Pepe, is he going to get into the team? It's a massive amount of money they have paid for him and Lille will be laughing all the way to the bank with that one.
"It's still early days and maybe the player will turn it around but I haven't really seen what I expected to see from him."
Pepe scored 23 goals and contributed 12 assists for Lille last season and Emery believes fans will see him replicate the same sort of form in an Arsenal shirt.
After handing him just 24 minutes of action in last night's 4-0 win, the Spaniard said: "Pepe is an amazing player and I am sure that he is going to have a big career here, but he needs time.
“For a lot of great Arsenal players, the first month here was not easy, even the first year.
“Every player needs time to adapt when they arrive in England but the process with Pepe is going in the direction we expected.
“He still needs to get his confidence and to understand better with the other players. But his performances are getting better step by step.
“The players are also human beings and they are all working under pressure because we are at a big club with very demanding objectives.
“To be selected for Arsenal is a privilege and the pressure that brings is a positive.
“I don’t think about how much the club has paid for a player or how much is his salary. For me, the money is not relevant and it is not important.
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“I was speaking with Pepe and with Dani Ceballos and they say that the intensity of the Premier League has been the biggest change for them.
“The Premier League is the strongest competition in the world. Every match has quality players and physical players.
“So I am going to work with Pepe and with Ceballos to help them with that adaptation.”
