Nicolas Pepe sees £4m-a-year move to Saudi Arabian club collapse
Nicolas Pepe sees Arsenal exit collapse as ‘talks break down with unnamed Saudi club on £4m-a-year move’ for the Ivory Coast winger
- Nicolas Pepe sees Saudi Arabian escape route from The Emirates break down
- Talks on £4m-a-year deal for the Ivorian with unnamed Saudi side collapse
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Nicolas Pepe faces an uncertain future at Arsenal after seeing a £4m-a-year deal to Saudi Arabia collapse.
The Arsenal winger is looking for a way out of the club, with him no longer part of manager Mikel Arteta’s first team plans.
Last season the Ivory Coast international spent the campaign on loan at Nice, and having returned to the Gunners was left out of the squad’s pre-season tour along with Albert Sambi Lokonga and Cedric Soares.
However, according to CBS, Pepe won’t be the latest name to head to the middle east, after a talks broke down between the player and an unnamed Saudi Pro League side on a £4m-a-year-deal.
Pepe had hoped to join names such as Ruben Neves, Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante as the latest player to swap the Premier League for the riches of Saudi Arabia, but now finds himself in limbo at the North London club.
Nicolas Pepe has seen a move to a unnamed Saudi Arabian side collapse as looks for a move
Pepe isn’t part of manager Mikel Arteta’s plans and was left out of the club’s pre-season tour
The 28-year-old became Arsenal’s record signing when he made the £72m move from Lille in 2019, but has struggled to live up to the billing.
In three seasons at The Emirates, Pepe scored 27 goals in 112 appearances before being farmed out on loan last year.
At Nice, he managed 8 goals in 28 games, alongside former Premier League faces Aaron Ramsey and Ross Barkley as the French side finished 9th in Ligue 1.
Pepe’s first-team chances at Arsenal have been hampered further by the £65million arrival of Kai Havertz from Chelsea, one of three big-name summer signings the Gunners have made.
Along with a Havertz’s arrival, the Gunners have also signed Jurrien Timber from Ajax and broke the club record fee they spent on Pepe to bring Declan in Rice for £105m.
Pepe may not be headed to Saudi, but the league continues to raid the Premier League for new recruits, with Jordan Henderson and Riyad Mahrez set to join the exodus.
Henderson will become the first England international to make the move, as he links-up with former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard who has taken over as manager of Al Ettifaq.
While Mahrez will sign a three-year deal with Al-Ahli after Man City agreed £30 deal with the Saudi club.
Arsenal splashed out a club record fee to bring in Pepe in 2019 but now looks set to leave
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