Arsenal outcast Nicolas Pepe is reportedly said to be garnering interest from an unnamed Saudi Arabian club after the £72 million flop rejected Besiktas offer.
According to RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins, an unidentified club from Saudi Arabia are apparently in talks with Arsenal to secure the services of fringe star Nicolas Pepe, who recently turned down a three-year contract offer from Turkish Super Lig giants Besiktas.
Pepe joined the Gunners from French club Lille for a club-record £72 million fee in 2019. And it’s safe to say, it has not quite happened for the Ivorian winger at the Emirates. His record of 27 goals and 21 assists in 112 appearances for the Gunners is by no means a disaster, but not what you would expect from a big-money attacker.
He has spent the whole of the 2022-23 campaign on loan with Nice in Ligue 1, where he scored eight goals and provided one assist in 28 appearances. There was no obligation to buy clause included in Pepe’s loan deal, and he returned to Arsenal after Nice opted against pursuing a permanent transfer earlier this summer.
With the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard ahead of him in the pecking order, Arsenal are trying to find buyers for Pepe and have no plans to reintegrate the winger back into their first-team anytime soon.
The 28-year-old was left out of the Gunners’ pre-season tour and also did not make the squad for Arsenal’s first two league victories of the new season. It has been reported previously that Turkish outfit Besiktas were willing to offer Pepe an escape route to get his career back on track with a three-year contract, but to no fruition with the Ivorian turning down their contract offer.
In recent days there have been reports that the club could even decide to terminate his contract should no decent offer come in for the winger’s signature, with just one year left on his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
However, it seems the Gunners may be finally able to offload the former Angers man. RMC Sport journalist Hawkins understands that Saudi Arabia could be the most likely destination for Pepe.
An unnamed Saudi Arabian outfit has “positioned itself” to land Pepe and this rumour is now “the hottest lead” as Arsenal desperately looks to recoup a small fraction of the £72 million they paid Lille to sign him in the first place from Lille.
It remains to be seen how this one will pan out in the coming days, but the Gunners will undoubtedly be happy to get a fee from his sale as they look to fund some additional moves.
They have already banked around £41 million including add-ons from the sales of four players, namely Granit Xhaka, Matt Turner, Auston Trusty and Pablo Mari, and are hoping to sell Pepe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Folarin Balogun, Rob Holding and Nuno Tavares for decent amounts before the summer transfer window slams shuts.
