Why former Arsenal winger rejected Ancelotti and Napoli in favour of Emery | OneFootball

Former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe has revealed that he was close to joining Napoli before eventually sealing an €80m transfer to North London in 2019, but a phone call with Unai Emery convinced him to turn down Carlo Ancelotti and the Partenopei.

Pepe became Arsenal’s most expensive signing ever when he joined on an €80m fee from Lille, a record that has only recently been surpassed by Declan Rice with his €115m move from West Ham.

Why Pepe turned down Ancelotti and Napoli in favour of Emery and Arsenal

Though he ended up at Arsenal, Pepe has revealed that he had also been in negotiations with Napoli that summer, but decided to join Emery at Arsenal rather than Ancelotti at Napoli after conversations with the two tacticians.

The fact that Emery was able to speak with Pepe for around an hour in his mother tongue was one of the main contributing factors to his decision to join the Gunners, as well as his detail in describing the project at Arsenal.

“I had a phone call with Carlo Ancelotti, who was Napoli coach at the time,” the current Villarreal forward said in an interview with The Athletic.

“It lasted five minutes. Half an hour later, I received another call, this time from Unai Emery. It lasted an hour.

“He told me exactly what he was looking for, everything he would expect from me if I joined Arsenal. He spoke about tactics, what he wanted from me, where he was going to play me, how I could expect to improve under him, lots of detail.

“And although he’s not a great French speaker, he spoke to me in French for a whole hour. It was a small thing, but it impressed me. I felt his desire to work with me.

“That’s why I signed, It wasn’t the club, it was the coach. When someone wants you like that, you go.”