Arsenal could reportedly be ready to terminate Nicolas Pepe’s contract this summer if clubs don’t come in for him in the transfer market.
The Ivory Coast international will be returning to the Emirates Stadium after a loan spell at Nice, but it seems unlikely that he has any future in Mikel Arteta’s first-team.
According to football.london, this means Arsenal could even be willing to rip up Pepe’s contract and let him leave on a free, despite previously investing a club-record fee to sign him from Lille.
Pepe cost the Gunners £72m back in 2019, according to BBC Sport‘s report at the time, and it’s fair to say this will surely go down as one of the worst signings of recent history in the Premier League.
Pepe showed flashes of some quality in his time in north London, but nowhere near enough to justify that kind of transfer fee, and it seems right to try to offload him this summer.
The 27-year-old hasn’t done much of note whilst being on loan at Nice either, so it remains to be seen if there’ll be many clubs ready to pay up for him, meaning this contract termination could end up being the most realistic option.