Arsenal may be left red-faced over Nicolas Pepe again in Aubameyang repeat

Arteta promotes three Arsenal wonderkids to train with first team

Arsenal may be forced to pay off Nicolas Pepe’s contract in order to get him off their books this summer. The Ivorian became the Gunner’s record signing when he joined the club in 2019 from Lille for £72million but has failed to hit the ground running in the Premier League since his arrival.

Arsenal will be hoping to recoup some of the money they spent on him but a combination of Pepe’s high wage expectations and his poor form means that selling him for an eight-figure fee won’t be an easy task. Therefore, Football.London reports Arsenal have plans in place to terminate his contract if required.

If it does end up coming to this then it would be the second time the north Londoners have had to pay a player a lump sum to leave the Emirates in the space of a year. Following an explosive falling out with Mikel Arteta during the 2021-2022 season, Arsenal paid Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang £7million to terminate his £350,000-a-week contract.

Such a move would be seen as a massive failure from a financial perspective but may be crucial for the dressing with reports suggesting that Pepe is unhappy with his situation and is desperate to leave Arsenal.

Last season, Pepe went out on loan to Nice but a knee injury hampered his minutes on the field. The 28-year-old only managed to make 19 appearances in Ligue 1 and scored six goals in total.

Speaking about his future during an interview with Colinterview, he said: “I will return to Arsenal. I was loaned without an option to buy so I have to go back to Arsenal. I don’t know [about my future] yet. When I get back, I’ll speak with the coach and everyone and see what everyone’s ideas are and then we’ll make a decision.”

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Pepe wasn’t spotted travelling over to Germany with the team for their pre-season training camp at Adidas headquarters and isn’t expected to be a part of Arteta’s squad for their US tour.

The team hasn’t been officially announced yet although the Daily Cannon claims the following players were seen boarding a private jet to Germany: Runar Alex Runarsson, Aaron Ramsdale, Karl Hein, Rob Holding, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, William Saliba, Reuell Walters, Auston Trusty, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Magalhaes, Cedric Soares, Jakub Kiwior, Martin Odegaard, Mohamed Elneny, Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri, Fabio Vieira, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, Folarin Balogun, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Marquinhos and Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal’s new kit for 2023/2024 is a stylish twist on a classic as it reinvents that mid-1990s vibe. A truly modern-looking shirt with a homage to the past, the Nike kit also includes a nod to the club’s iconic Invincible’s side in the finer details while catching the eye with the lightning bolt motif

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