Nicolas Pepe expresses his feelings about Arsenal after being left out of transfer talks.
Nicolas Pepe makes it appear to be on his way out of Arsenal after being left out of the squad for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth due to illness.
Nicolas Pepe is undoubtedly eager to end his nightmare spell at Arsenal due to interest from France.
Pepe became the Gunners' marquee signing when he arrived from Lille in the summer of 2019 in a Ł72million deal, but the 27-year-old has struggled to live up to expectations at the Emirates Stadium and has been linked with a cheap exit in recent weeks.
And the Ivory Coast international appears to be on the verge of a return to France after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta left Pepe out of the squad for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth due to strong interest from Nice.
According to The Athletic, Pepe desires to leave the club as the Gunners progress to negotiate a season-long loan deal with Nice, who are keen to sign the winger for the upcoming season.
Pepe has only scored 27 goals in 112 appearances since joining Arsenal and has regressed in recent months under Arteta. The former Lille man had not appeared in either of Arsenal's two Premier League games this season before being left out of the squad that traveled to the south coast on Saturday evening.
After reports of Nice's interest surfaced over the weekend, Arteta hinted on Friday that Pepe was set to leave the club before the transfer deadline of September 1.
"What we can communicate, we always do when it's the right moment," the Spaniard said in his pre-match press conference. We discussed how large our squad is, and we made some decisions that allowed some players to leave. Everything is possible with any player until the end of the window."
Arsenal have significantly supported their squad this spring in order to end their multi-year absence from the Champions League, but the club are still looking for another wide player. Any agreement, however, was expected to be contingent on Pepe's future.
In the aftermath of Pepe's uncertain future, the Gunners have been linked with a slew of potential attacking targets, including Villarreal's teenage hotshot Yeremy Pino.
Speculation linking the 19-year-old winger to the Emirates has increased in recent weeks, with Villarreal reportedly willing to sell the wideman for far less than his reported €80 million (Ł67.5m) release clause.
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