- Pepe flopped badly at the Emirates
- Now with La Liga club
- Pepe scored in first half
In a pre-season friendly at the Emirates, Villarreal took an early lead against Arsenal thanks to a scruffy finish from Pepe. The winger, of course, joined the Gunners in a £72 million ($96m) deal back in 2019. He went on to play 112 times for the club but could only muster 27 goals and 21 assists, and was loaned to Nice in 2022 before being sold to Trabzonspor before later joining Villarreal. On Wednesday, though, he got ahead of the struggling Jakub Kiwior to poke an effort into the bottom corner, refusing to celebrate afterwards.
Pepe only managed three goals for Villarreal last season, although he did provide six assists, as the club finished fifth in La Liga. He will hope to finally deliver on the immense potential he showed in Ligue 1 in 2025-26.
Arsenal will play one more pre-season friendly before the Premier League season gets underway. They face Athletic Club in the Emirates Cup this weekend.
