Winger Nicolas Pepe is likely to leave Arsenal this summer. However, the Gunners may not get a single penny despite spending up to £ 72 million to buy him in 2019.
Gunners are one of the biggest shopping teams in the summer of 2022. The arrival of rookies helps the Gunners fly high and almost win the Premier League.
Until this summer, Arsenal continued to spend heavily. They soon brought in 3 expensive rookies including Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.
In the opposite direction, coach Mikel Arteta also pushed away unsuitable players. Last season, Nicolas Pepe joined Nice on a one-season loan deal. This deal does not include an outright purchase option.
Since joining Arsenal from Lille for a record £72m fee in 2019, Pepe has not performed as expected. After 112 appearances, he only scored 27 goals and had 21 assists for his teammates.
After spending last season at Nice on loan , the Ivory Coast winger is preparing to leave the Emirates Stadium permanently. The British press said that he would join Besiktas on a free transfer. And for the deal to be approved, Pepe will terminate his contract with Arsenal a year early. That means the Gunners will not make any money from this deal.
The 28-year-old has been dropped by the club from all plans for next season. Pepe is currently training alone, while his teammates are on tour. Arsenal board announced Pepe was absent due to injury, but everyone knows what the main reason is.
After the friendly defeat to Man United, coach Mikel Arteta told reporters: “Currently, Pepe is in the process of recovering from injury. That’s why he’s not here.”
“Pepe spent some time on loan and obviously we want to get more from him after that. At the moment, we have no plans with Pepe.”