Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has already made his mind up on Nicolas Pepe, according to Dharmesh Sheth.
The Sky Sports reporter, writing on GiveMeSport, says the Gunners winger is not in the manager’s plans.
Pepe is Arsenal’s record signing, joining the Gunners for £72million back in 2019.
However, it hasn’t worked out for the Ivory Coast international, who is currently on loan at Nice.
Pepe’s Arsenal contract runs until the summer of 2024.
However, the Gunners have moved on from the 27-year-old as a squad, and are now challenging for the title.
The likelihood that Arteta will reintroduce Pepe into the Arsenal squad this summer seems low.
And Sheth, writing on GiveMeSport, reckons the former Lille man has long disappeared from Arteta’s radar.
“I don’t even think the form of those players [Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli] is going to have an impact at all because I think Mikel Arteta has made it clear that he’s not in his plans,” he said.
“He wasn’t a Mikel Arteta signing, remember. This was a signing made by Unai Emery and Emery has since said he actually wanted to sign Wilfried Zaha.
“But the club decided that they were going to go for Nicolas Pepe. Maybe because of his attributes and maybe because of his age as well.”
Pepe unlikely to stay at Arsenal past the summer
It simply hasn’t worked out for Arsenal and Pepe, which is a shame, but sometimes that’s how it goes.
It would be incredibly surprising if the Gunners don’t sell him in the summer transfer window.
Arsenal are bound to make a huge loss on the winger, based on his hefty transfer fee and the fact he has just one year left on his contract.
Nevertheless, the Gunners will be able to get a reported £140,000-a-week off their wage bill, which can go towards reinforcements or contract renewals.
Pepe is a good player and will no doubt kick on elsewhere.
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