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Former Arsenal forward, Nicolas Pepe has disclosed that he contemplated quitting football when he was subjected to abuse at the Emirates Stadium.
Pepe joined the Gunners for £72m in 2019 but was released in 2023 after a disappointing spell at the club.
The 29-year-old is now a free agent again after leaving Turkish side Trabzonspor and speaking to L’Equipe, the Ivory Coast international says he suffered “trauma” while playing for Arsenal.
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“I suffered a kind of trauma with Arsenal. It was as though they had taken away my passion for football,” Pepe told L’Equipe.
“I felt disgusted by the game. I was no longer playing, and I asked myself why I was doing this job.
“I felt so many doubts and thought about packing it all in. I asked myself why people were attacking me so angrily.
“They went as far as calling me the biggest flop in Premier League history. But I refused to mope about it.
“I wanted something different when I left Arsenal last summer, and I didn’t care a damn about the money.”