Arsenal Keen to Offload Nicolas Pepe as Transfer Window Approaches
According to The Telegraph, Arsenal are now actively inviting offers for Pepe this summer, as they look to offload him and reduce their wage bill. The report even suggests that if no suitable bids emerge, the Gunners may consider terminating his contract before the end of the transfer window.
The Ivorian, who joined Arsenal from Lille in 2019 for a staggering £72 million, has struggled to live up to his hefty price tag during his three seasons with the Gunners.
Nicolas Pepe is one of the higher earners on Arsenal’s books, though, with only 12 months left on his deal, there is a possibility that his contract could be terminated by the end of the summer window. Arsenal are hoping to avoid that scenario & instead generate a transfer fee,… pic.twitter.com/zb3NkU9OPQ
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) June 13, 2023
Pepe featured in 112 games for Arsenal, finding the back of the net 27 times. However, his performances fell short of expectations, leading to a loan spell back to Ligue 1 with Nice for the past season. While the 28-year-old managed to score eight goals in 28 appearances for the French side, Nice has indicated that they are not interested in securing his services on a permanent basis.
Pepe’s high wage demands make him one of the top earners at Arsenal, and the club is eager to free up funds for potential new signings.
The North London side is reportedly close to breaking their transfer record once again, with a £100 million deal for West Ham United’s Declan Rice in the works. If completed, the move would see Rice become one of the highest-paid players at the club.
Nicolas Pepe has made just 80 appearances, with 43 starts in the Premier League for Arsenal. He's scored 16 and assisted nine goals.
— Orbinho (@Orbinho) June 13, 2023
Additionally, Arsenal retains interest in Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, a player they attempted to acquire in January. However, securing the services of the Ecuadorian midfielder is likely to come at a significant cost, with a price tag exceeding £70 million this summer.
With Arsenal gearing up for a return to the UEFA Champions League next season, manager Mikel Arteta is focused on strengthening the squad’s depth. Unfortunately for Pepe, it appears that he does not feature in Arteta’s future plans, leading the Gunners to seek alternatives and opportunities to offload the winger during the transfer window.
As the summer transfer window unfolds, Arsenal’s intentions to move on from Nicolas Pepe reflect their commitment to restructuring the squad and optimizing their resources for future challenges.
Writer: Yash Bisht
What an absolute waste of money!
Why on earth did the club believe he was worth that much in the first place? We’ll be lucky to get £10m for him. It should be said though that over the years many players have been sold for stupid money and yet failed to reach the heights expected of them. Maunure have made plenty including Falcao, Verón and Di María for example.
The gamble that clubs take on spending large amounts in modern football is ridiculous but, Pepe is a clear indication of how a club record can become the clubs biggest regret!
I know lessons are learnt and Arsenal will have taken it on the chin with Pepe. Let’s just hope it’s not happening again with Rice or Caicedo etc.
I don’t think Rice is worth £100m outlay. Most big money transfers don’t work out. That’s a fact. In the case of Pepe, judging from his stats, I believe he wasn’t as bad as he’s always being made out to be. He might have been much better under Emery (had he continued). It’s clear that for whatever reason, he didn’t fit Arteta’s plans.
Also, Arteta and Edu Gasper have to take responsibility for devaluing our players. If Pepe was a Chelsea or Liverpool player, they will ensure his value remains at least so they can get something decent for him, say between 30 and £35m. We will be very lucky to get even £10m
In fairness to Arteta, he did give him the chance to prove himself but failed miserably. I remember watching him play over a four or five game period and he was just terrible. His ball control went missing and his dribbling was even worse. Let’s not get started with his lack of crossing technique.
You’re right about Rice too. He’s not not worth £100m or £350,000 per week. I don’t think Arsenal will even pay £75m let alone £100m.
If we dont offer a deal more than your suggested £75 mill, then we have not a hope to get him. They would keep him at West Ham, IF that were all they were offered ,imo.
But realists know ,it wont be all they are offered. We are reported to have already offered £92 mill anyway.
dgr8xt, Your post set me thinking . So I wouild ask fellow Gooners, WHICH huge transfers they see as being succesful for the buyers ands which they do not.
I woula widen it to aALLPrem clubs for better context overall. I suspect thatt most clubs COSTLIEST imports have been NOT their best players and in some cases nowhere near being so.
In our case Pepe has been a total disaster. I think Rice would be as success IF he comes. Not sure about CAICEDO THOUGH.
IT IS EASIER FOR TRUE HOME GROWN (AS IN BORN AND BRED) COSTLY PLAYERS TO SUCCEED , all other things being equal.
In terms of devaluing our players, much of what happened was during the Covid pandemic and some clubs were in a bad financial place. Transfer fees struggled during this period. I don’t recall there being a rush for Kolasinac or Sokratis who were being too well paid by Arsenal. Even a perfectly decent player in Bellerin didn’t go for much.
I agree with you that Pepe didn’t fit in with MA but it’s only fair to add that the player has to be able to do what is asked by the manager. ( and this goes across all clubs) look at how quickly Joe Hart was dispensed with!
The current team have a high ceiling due to academy players and shrewd purchases coming good. Of course, some are not so good but no transfer policy is perfect and this affects most clubs.
You mention Chelsea who have had the benefit of the largesse of Abramovitch. It will be interesting to see how much they recoup when they move on some of their squad
Sue, I foresee huge losses at Chelsea, happily too, when they try to move on their unwanted players.
And that will affect them with FFP, even though FFP only seems to apply to some clubs, but NOT to certain others, as we all know.
On Pepe, it is abundantly plain to all involved, which includes all on JA, that Pepe is not wanted by Arsenal and that we are trying our level best to get him out.
My personal opinion is that more likely than not, to shift him at all we will have to do as we did wirh Ozil and pay a substantial proportion of his wages to whichever other club is foolish enough to take him.
It is a very SMALL chance only that we MIGHT get some sort of fee, possibly “tuppence happence” for him, which is about his true worth IMO.
Thanks to that FRAUD Sanllehi , we threw away “£72 mill” on a total dud!
Agreed, Sanellehi was a fraud and should go into the hall of shame along with Ozil and Auba. Money grabbing wasters!
Perhaps you should include Gazidis and Arteta in that list, as they were the ones who offers the grotesque contracts in the first place.
In both instances of the players you mention, the club could have just let them walk away… why didn’t they GunneRay?
KEN then it seems you distinguish NO moral difference between MA, who offered huge money to somewone else, his players,, even though hugely mistakenly, AND those individuals who grabbed such huge contracts for THEMSELVES PERSONALLY, and then reneged on their side of the contract, by failing to give back in consistent effort for the obscene money they grabbed so readily?
IS that the case, OR have you some other explanation for you post that holds water?
To be clear I do hold MA responsible for BAD JUDGEMENT, but, at least in my book , an honest mistake, made not for personal greed, is of far less importance than a personally gained immoral “theft”from one employers.
AND , indirectly , from the very fans who bankroll the sport that gives you a living.
There are no winners in this ; only fools(MA) victims of immoral theft( we fans) and MAagain and the club who lost someof his/their reputation for previous good judgement.
Not even the players were winners, as they forfeited any claim to the moral highground but only won in the grubby matter of more and more still personal greed.
Which exposes them to scorn and ridicule by those among our fanbase who KNOW HOW IMPORTANT LIFES PROPER PRIORITIES TRULY ARE.
I’m afraid much of this criticism is on the basis of hindsight and without offering what would have been a credible alternative.
It’s easy to look back now and say it was “bad judgement” to offer such and such a contract. However, it is unclear from these comments whether anyone who is making these arguments had a truly viable alternative at the time.
There is ALWAYS a viable alternative DAVID!
NOT to agree such contracts at all is JUST ONE alternative and one that we ought to have chosen for both OZIL and AUBA.
Managers are highly paid to have sound judgement. On both these matters MA s judgement was, sadly, extremely costly, both financially and in team building.
@GunneRay
The majority of the fans out so much pressure on the club to keep those two primadonnas.. People were up in arms making statements like: “Givve Him whatever amount he is asking for”.
They were cussing out the club and threatening to hit it where it hurts financially if it did not give into those players wage demands.
That’s when the statement “Give him whatever he is asking for” became prominent. Now every other season we are treated to it when it comes to certain player’s contract sagas.
So I think the fanbase also has to take some responsibility on the amount of pressure they put on the club during those contract negotiations. But I won’t hold my breathe on that.. 😊
Liverpool’s biggest purchases went well for them. Also, Grealish is starting to look like he might justify his large price tag. But there aren’t many that spring to mind, players that attract the largest fees who then look worthy. When Che won the CL they probably thought their big spending was worth it before the decline last season, and then they bought even higher, so we’ll see how many will sink. I’m surprized that Pepe has had 112 appearances, for sure though he is a flop and history tells us that we will do well to bring in any kind of fee for him
In reply to Jon Fox
I think of Lukaku who didn’t fare too well with Chelsea . I’m not sure that the ManU faithful consider Maguire to be a roaring success. Add Sancho who has struggledand is on £350kpw.
Paul Pogba to add to MC’s woes as well.
Thanks for that vauable contribution Sue , ALL of who back up the assertion in my above post.