Arsenal is considering terminating the contract of Nicolas Pepe if he fails to secure a move to another club before the start of the next season.
Pepe, who became Arsenal’s record signing in 2019, has struggled to make a significant impact during his time at the Emirates Stadium.
Having been deemed surplus to requirements at the end of the previous season, he spent the current campaign on loan at Nice, where he failed to demonstrate significant improvement. This has all but diminished his chances of receiving another opportunity at Arsenal.
Upon his return to the club in the summer, Arsenal will make efforts to find him a new team. However, if they are unable to secure a suitable offer, there is a possibility that Arsenal may pay up the remainder of his contract, allowing him to depart. Journalist Paul Brown has suggested this scenario.
“If Arsenal need space in the squad and there are no suitable offers for Pepe, then it is possible that Arsenal will simply pay off his contract,” Brown stated in an interview with Give Me Sport.
“It’s clear he doesn’t have a future at the club. I doubt Arsenal want him lingering until his contract expires.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Signing Pepe for a record fee is one of the most ridiculous signings we have done so far and the attacker has had enough time to prove his worth.
He could not even set the world on fire at Nice, so we cannot give him another chance to play for us.
Arsenal may have overpaid for Pepe… However, the club has a very spotty record when it comes to how it treats players who cost a lot or get paid a lot.
Pepe got one seasonat Arsenal to show what he could do, and during that season he outscored Bukayo Saka. TThenext season, he hardly played, and after that, he was sent on loan. At Nice, he scored six and assisted one; modest numbers, but he was the club’s second leading scorer behind their center- forward.
Arsenal may decide to buy out Pepe’s contract, but they won’t be ‘ripping it up’ which implies they are simply terminating it. And the club does have a long history of dragging out the misery of players it doesn’t want. No club is going to pay for him given that every football executive on the planet knows Arsenal don’t want him and Pepe is hardly going to sign with a smaller team for vastly reduced wages.
If Arsenal want to end their relationship with Pepe they will have to pay the value of his contract, as they did with Mesut Ozil.
A better move from a business stand-point would be to send him on loan to a club that will pay at least part of his wages. There is simply no benefit at all to simply buying him out other than a few lame headlines that make the club seem aggressive in further smearing the professional reputations of players it doesn’t like.
Spot on Paul.
Pepe would have been a brilliant backup for Saka towards the latter end of the season when he seemed tired. Pepe has got a brilliant left foot and can finnish with aplom. Him, Tavarez and Guendozi where ostrisized too soon. All 3 of them would have made a big difference this season as we struggled for quality or lack of it from the bench. I know all of them had attitude problems but being send out on loan should be punishment enough. I sense Arteta is not the “kiss & makeup” type of guy. I believe he will learn frm this and become more forgiving/softer as he ages.
What attitude problem does Tavaraz and Pepe have?
Asking for a friend
Pepe is not good for arsenal right now he should go to a small club. Even for a reserve for me is not good enough, if he could not shine in league 1 how do you expect him to do well in today arsenal
Headlines like this are damaging. His contract wont be ripped up and the more the player is covered in rotten tomatoes by bad press, the more his value comes down. Not managed the best but he probably dormant show his best as often as he is able.
Dormant, where’s that come from? Doesn’t
Loan him to a PL club like Brighton and see him outshine our wingers.
Mr Cool
Pepe’s attitude problem for me manifested itself on the pitch. Dont think Pepe was ever happy playing on the right. This was evident in his body language and subpar performances. He should have just trusted the coach and gave his all which he never did.
Wrt Tavarez who can forget his meltdown in the FA cup loss to N-Forest a couple of seasons ago after being substituted. Certainly i don’t!!. These kind of reactions brings the club and coach into disrepute. Hope i agree.