Nicolas Pepe makes honest admission on £200k-a-week Arsenal future

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Nicolas Pepe admits he is none the wiser about whether he has a future at Premier League leaders Arsenal after Mikel Arteta farmed him out on loan to Ligue 1 outfit Nice last summer. 

With his parent club eight points clear and dreaming of bringing an end to their 20 year wait for a top-flight title, you could understand if Pepe was suffering from a nasty case of ‘FOMO’. 

The Ivory Coast international insists that, had he stuck around at the Emirates Stadium, he could have played a key role for Arteta this season.  

Instead, a man who made his name at Lille is building up his fitness again across the Channel, a niggling knee injury stalling the progress he has made on loan at Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ambitious Nice outfit. 

There is no option-to-buy clause in Pepe’s contract. And Arsenal’s £72 million record signing is no closer to discovering what the future holds for him at club level. 

Does Nicolas Pepe have a future at Arsenal?

“I am very happy at Nice,” Pepe tells France Bleu ahead of Sunday’s return to old employers Angers. “There are two important months to come for this club. I want to concentrate on that and I’m not sure after that.  

“There will be discussions.

“I don’t know what Arsenal want. I still have a lot of friends there, I could have been important for the club. But those are the coach’s choices.” 

Pepe, per The Athletic, earns around £200,000-a-week at Arsenal. The Gunners are still stumping up a quarter of the 27-year-old wage, with Pepe forgoing a further 25 per cent.  

Come the summer, Pepe will have just one year left on his Arsenal contract. Given how little he featured under Arteta across 2021/22, before being farmed out to the Allianz Riviera, it would be a surprise if Arteta opted to welcome him back in North London. 

“Today, yes, I am at 100 per cent,” Pepe adds, having recovered from a spell on the sidelines. “Even if it will take me a little time to find the pace.

“Despite the injury, I wanted to stay with the team and come to training. I’ve always done it like that. With the season we’re producing, we want to finish well. I want to help.”