Arsenal’s Ivorian winger, Nicolas Pepe, finds himself training away from the main squad amid speculations of an impending departure from the club this summer. In recent footage shared by Pepe himself, he can be seen working out in a gym alongside members of the public, hinting at the uncertainty surrounding his future at the Emirates.
Pepe’s journey at Arsenal has been far from smooth since his high-profile £72 million transfer from Lille in 2019. Despite showing glimpses of his potential, the winger has struggled to consistently justify his hefty price tag. Over 112 appearances for the Gunners, he managed to score 27 goals and provide 21 assists, but his overall impact has often fallen short of expectations.
According to the Sun, it has been suggested that Arsenal might be contemplating the idea of terminating Pepe’s contract to free up space in the squad. It appears that manager Mikel Arteta does not view the Ivorian as an integral part of his plans for the upcoming season. As the rest of the Arsenal squad gears up for their pre-season tour in LA, Pepe’s situation remains in limbo.
Earlier this month, Pepe was linked with a potential move to the Saudi Pro League. However, negotiations reportedly fell through when the player took too long to agree on personal terms. It is clear that the winger’s future is currently in a state of flux, leaving Arsenal fans uncertain about what lies ahead.
Arteta’s recent comments about Pepe’s lack of involvement in his plans. The Spanish coach stated that the winger is currently recovering from an injury, which is why he is not with the team. The boss said: “at the moment he is recovering from an injury which is why he’s not here… he had a spell on loan and obviously we wanted to get much more than we got from that loan spell. We have to see when we come back, understand what the plans are and make the right decision for him,” as quoted by Metro.
In the pecking order for the right flank, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, and Reiss Nelson seem to have gained Arteta’s favor over Pepe. Even players like Leandro Trossard and Fabio Vieira appear to be considered before the Ivorian when it comes to team selection.
It also doesn’t look like Arsenal will be able to move Pepe on either due to his inflated wage packet, so do you think it would sensible for Arsenal to simply terminate his contract and pay him off?
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
The moment MA doesn’t like a player we should just sell immediately. It keeps costing AFC money. Sell and take what you can get….this BS of refusing offers then players leaving for free/paid off is getting old now.
Yes we could’ve sold Pepe 1-2 years ago so don’t say no-one wants him now because it’s too late. Why pay anything for a player you know the club wants gone!
As the same output as Havertz in their PL careers but Pepe is regarded as a flop and our new signing apparently will be some kind of miracle player ,he should have been given more chances IMO but that boat as sailed so I would imagine the club like always will pay for him to leave without getting any transfer fee ,that is one thing this new regime as been atrocious at and it hasn’t got any better this season apart form the Xhaka fee
Dan K, when you consider a reported fee of £137,000,000 has been spent on Pepe and Havertz, the mind boggles!!!
I’m not agreeing with you regarding the latter though, as I’m hoping he will regain the form he had before the move to chelsea.
Like you, I don’t think Pepe has been given an extended run, despite the 112 appearances mentioned.
But it seems that, once MA makes his mind up, that’s the end of the story.
Totally agree with your last observation.
I’ve watched a lot of him ken ,and can honestly say I’ve seen nothing whatsoever that warrants that transfer fee ,I keep reading fans saying but he was amazing in the Bundesliga or Chelsea have been in turmoil so he hasn’t been at his best but for me that still does not add upto a 65 million pound player .
He’s good in the air but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him score with his head (missed an easy chance against Man Utd )
He’s clumsy infront of goal and always rushes his chances .
Lacks pace and goes missing when the going gets tuff .
He does track back though and does the dirty work but again that does not warrant that fee .
Can only hope that Arteta wants to use him differently,but having watched that last game he looked just like I’ve seen him over the last 3 years playing for Chelsea
Sounds a lot like mkhitarian – very good player, but couldn’t show it for arsenal or utd. Ominous
I concur with you;we keep on bailing out Chelsea by get their flops off their books while we are stuck with ours
👍 Dan, examples of how to destroy a player’s confidence and career in one easy lesson, if Arteta decides you are for the scrap heap. Also pay £65 million for a resurrection project with poorer statistics.
If he’s willing to receive a smaller amount of money now than what he will get at this season, Arsenal had better terminate his contract
He is 28 years old, injured, not homegrown and not really wanted by other clubs. Even if he plays better and takes the starting place from Saka this season, he could use the opportunity to move to another club or force Arsenal to give him a big salary raise
If he leaves now, we could use his wage to extend Odegaard’s contract or sign a new player
If your employer wanted you gone, would you just leave for nothing?
Arsenal will either pay him and keep them on their books for his final season or just pay his final season’s salary and be done with it.
Either way it will register as an expense on the club accounts and will stunt our ability to add to the squad or extend existing player salaries.
If he has a suitor now, he’d likely be willing to receive a severance package from Arsenal. Otherwise, he just needs to enjoy his salary until his contract expires next year
Managing incoming and outgoings carries different weight on how good the job Arteta and Edu are doing.
I will say 99% should be on managing outgoings and 1% incomings. It’s very hard to sell players at a good rate but very easy to buy.
Give me, or my grandmother or my 3 years old brother 600 million and we will buy better than they have.
Everyone can buy when money is available. But not anyone can sell and based on sales alone I wonder how they still have the jobs. Utter incompetence the like of which have never been seen in football history.
Take a look at what Chelsea did last season with 600 mill last season, and you will (should) realize it is not as easy to buy as you imagine. And what an inflated ego!!
Arteta and Edu have done an incredible job with the Arsenal squad, to the point where it’s the envy of most of the world.
They got rid of pre-Arteta hyper-wage-earning has-beens like Aubameyang, Ozil, Kolasinac, and others. They got rid of most other deadwood, and you have to remember Pepe is not an Arteta signing. He goes to the French Ligue 1 and still doesnt do enough for even a Saudi club to bid for him. What’s Edu to do? Play for him instead?!
We signed Jesus, Zinchenko, Odegaard, White, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, and Trossard (all of whom have been success stories). We have tied down Saka, Martinelli, Saliba, Gabriel, and Ramsdale to long-term contracts. Arteta’s management of Saliba and Martinelli in particular has been brilliant. It has made stars of them. Moving White to right-back was an inspired decision. How he has employed Zinchenko has been genius.
And … we have signed Rice and Timber this season. Two brilliant young talents yet with loads of experience. And I believe MA can help Havertz rediscover his pre-Chelsh*t form.
Clearly, not as incompetent as you have deemed the club to be …
The club have overall done an excellent job over the last few years. Not all the transfers have been as successful as one might have wanted but that is inevitable.
The team is now much better balanced than it has been for years.
I agree that what has been done is not at all easy or straightforward. It is however very easy for a critic to sit at a keyboard and write whatever they like.
We overpay in transfer fee and salaries. Name one player that we fought other clubs to get. We beat Man City to Rice because rice didn’t want them, nobody wanted Hervetz yet we paid 65M and doubled his salary, nobody wanted Jesus and we pay him 200k. And the list goes on and on.
Edu and Arteta overpay in transfer fees and wages to get their targets yet they can’t sell a player to save their lives.
Can you call that competence?
The one good at their jobs knows how to sell with profit or without loss and knows how to get their targets for less.
City paid 50M for Haaland with us covering 30M of that fee and we paid 65M for Harvetz. Go figure.
To rip up contracts, paying players to leave or to play for others and you call that good job? In this Earth or in the moons of Jupiter?
Paying Aubameyang to play for Barcelona and they ended up pocketing a transfer fee and you call that good job? In this Earth or in the depth of gases in Neptune?
Recently it was reported that Arsenal have the second most valuable squad in UK behind City.
It also says that our wage bill is lower than the likes of City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United etc..
It also says that Arsenal’s squad cost about £572 million to build and is now valued at aboout £915 million.
City’s squad cost about £852 million to build and is worth about £1.02 billion.
Chelsea’s squad last season cost an estimated £880 million to build and worth £756 million.
Last season’s Man United squad cost about £830 to assemble and is worth about £715 million.
Last season’s Liverpool squad was worth about £726 million.
About Haaland costing £50 million and Havertz £65 million.
Have you even ever heard about the whole Haaland to City transfer breakdown? How much the whole deal will cost City?
According to Swiss Ramble, The Athletic, Marca, Bild etc..
*£52 million release clause.
*£44 million additional fees: ( Agent fee (Mino Raiola) and (fathers commison Alf-Inge Haaland).
*£375,000 base weekly wages, that’s about £20 million per year spread over five years.
His wages are between base £370000 and £600000 a week plus add ons / bonuses: (Amount of goals scored, Winning the EPL, winning the CL, domestic Cups and seeing out his contract etc.. In his first season he scored about 40 goals, won the EPL title, Won the CL trophy, won a domestic cup etc, so he definitely earned close to a £600,000 if not more in wages due to the success City had this season. Bonuses..
Mino Raiola was Pogba’s agent too.. It is reported that he pocketed a cool £41 million in agent fees in Pogba’s £89 million move to Man United..
So in 5 years City would have spent near £300 million on the Halaand signing. How much would we have paid out of on the Kai signing in the same period?
I must congratulate you boss, you are the real G.O.A.T, Just taking a look at his very inbalanced comparison makes me wonder if he’s got an agenda towards the club’s hierarchy.
Lols
It was recently reported by who? Give credible sources. Give links to all your data because you are known for twisting facts.
Okay according to you Haaland cost 96 million with 375K per week. Bonuses are heresy. He gave them 40 goals and a treble.
Will Havertz costing 65M and 330K per week give us half that? In five years it will cost Arsenal 150M on Hevertz while it will cost City 196M on Haaland. How about ROI?
THE SECOND MOST VALUABLE TEAM, WHY CANT WE SELL ANY PLAYER IF THEY ARE THAT VALUABLE?
Pepe is one of that value yet we can’t find a buyer hence the article suggesting ripping of contract.
How many players in this second most valuable team can we get any decent fee for? So you have to accept one, either the ones in charge don’t have a clue on how to sell a player and should be condemned not being praised they are doing a good job or our players are not that valuable.
@HH
I get this sketchy information from where 99% of football fans always get it. That’s where you get it yourself if I am correct ( “Media reports”..). All of us normal fans go by the sketchy information that the media feeds us. What other way can we find out the real information about these deal?
I don’t have personal friends that are in the know like the likes of @Reggie or @Chapo.
And I listed some of the media sources that reported on the Haaland transfer last summer. The Athletic, Marca, Swiss Ramble, Bild etc..
Just type into google “Haaland’s overall cost to City”. Then you can suit yourself..
All I wanted to do was highlight your skewed Kai £67 million vs Haaland £50 million comparison / narrative. I will not try to psychoanalyse you because I don’t know if you knew about all the other details about Haalands deal (£44 million to his agent and father), the base £375,000 a week with no add ons / bonuses etc, or you knew about them but tried to push a certain narrative / agenda etc. So I will just leave it at that.
As I keep saying, we should always try to be as objective, fair and balanced as possible. Lets spew our view points in as much context as possible.
Because your £50 million for Haaland vs £67 million for Kai was clearly out of context on purpose or out of complete lack of awareness about the reported overall costs.. But is it a coincidence that you are pushing this one sided narrative? From your history on here I would be a bit skeptical to not think otherwise. You clearly have a set viewpoint like we all do..
And again the way you highlighted the £600 million we have spent to assemble this current team like it was some sort of ground breaking EPL record. But if you came at it without your already preconceived notion, then you would have also acknowledged that the other Top 4 clubs (City, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool etc) have spent more to assemble their own squads, we are talking in the £800 million region each while are in the £600 million region. Isn’t it?
But do you now acknowledge that the honest / objective comparison should have been: Kai £67 million vs Haaland £96 million?
Can you see how the whole debate then absolutely flips as compared to the one you were pushing before? Kai £67 million vs Haaland £50 million?
That’s all I wanted to highlight.
I stop reading when u said nobody wanted Havertz and jesus and we over paid. Bayern coach literally came to say how much he wanted t
Havertz with Madrid also in for him, Chelsea tried to hijack jesus transfer, his agent said this.
There is no way I will believe that missed all dis news
How much did Madrid and Bayern bid for Havertz? How much did they offer personal terms to the player.
They wanted him so they must have gone for him.
OT: Liverpool offer for Lavia rejected.
Pepe had 112 appearances registering 27 goals and 21 assists. He is considered a flop who must find another club ASAP.
Someone should remind me of Kai’s. Let’s compare and contrast.
History is about to repeat itself lol.
Think Chelsea was disingenuous in how they got Havertz off ther hands, But I refused Havertz can be so poor, let’s wait until he gets his feet properly wet at Arsenal.
40% goal contributions is not a bad stat for a midfielder. I would play him as long as he is not a bad influence and works hard. If you pay him off, you just set a bad example to any other player wishing to take Arsenal for granted. Either play him if he works hard for the team and manager, butif he is lazy and has a bad attitude then punish him as an example to others by sticking him in the reserves.
Somebody will take him but will not make an offer now as they know we are Ina terrible bargaining position. He will be shifted on by deadline day.
Why is it so easy for fans to dismiss a player? Was Pepe really given a chance to contribute? Are his stats that atrocious that he cannot even get a chance? I know that they don’t play in the same position but how does Pepe compare with Fabio Viera for instance?
I like Pepe as an individual but he has failed to improve since we bought him in 2019.
I keep asking, how many years and chances does a player need to start improving to an acceptable level? Pepe has been here and struggled under Emery, struggled under Ljumberg, struggled under Arteta, struggled on loan last season that the French club passed on the chance to sign him.
It’s being reported that his Saudi Arabian move collapsed because he was asking for about £8 million and the Saudi’s were not having that.. Even the Saudi’s don’t seem to rate him that much that a mere £8 million a year is being a step too far for them.
After 4 season of zero improvement even if given enough chances to show improvement.
Odegaard came on loan and improved himself. Willock went out on loan and improved himself. Guendouzi went out on loan and improved himself. Saliba went out on loan and improved himself. Balogan went out on loan and improved himself. Nketiah and Nelson went out and loan improved themselves. ESR went on loan and improved himself.
So who should give way in the Squad for Pepe?
Struggled? When a team is doing badly everyone looks bad and vice-versa. I believe that Pepe came to Arsenal at the wrong time. His price tag did not help. Fabio Viera has joined when the team is in a good place so he can get away with average performances….
Money for nothing. Gifts for free.
And next in line for the deadwood treatment, Nicolas Pepe, closely followed by Fabio Vieira and the latest newcomer, Kai Havertz.
Still love my AFC.
When you consider Lokonga, Vieira, Tavares, Willian etc. Edu and Arteta really have made some howlers! I can’t include Pepe because it wasn’t their fault. However, Pepe is simply another Ozil waste of space situation. The club need to move him out and focus on players who actually want to improve their game and their reputation. Pepe has no interest in anything but making a lot of money for doing very little. I wouldn’t write Havertz off based on a few games though. It’s not fair. He may need a good chunk of the season to find his mojo again! We need to support him and trust in the process.
My own pov is that pepe should be trained as a 9.
His finishing is so good.
The problem with Pepe has been his transfer fee coupled with his wages which makes getting any reasonable return difficult.
It didn’t work out for him at Arsenal and neither it seems has his loan spell brought about an offer.
I can’t understand why there is so much gnashing of teeth over his treatment or his actual ability. We lost to Utd in a preseason friendly and ever since the knives have been out over Pepe in this article and Havertz in general who has only been with us a short while.
Pepe and Fabio should be sold immediately, they are so damn average one could wonder who scouted them and for what purpose
This is the final major piece of mess that MA inherited.
Yet another player that is almost impossible to get a fee for given his wages and form. We can only pray a Saudi club comes in for him, otherwise it’s another loan or contract termination I guess.
Really want be good for a player like pepe his contract to be taminated when was bought at high amount of money. Club have to gain something from him