According to the latest reports, Arsenal are desperately pushing for the sale of forward Nicolas Pepe. The Ivory Coast winger has failed to make an impact under current Gunners boss Mikel Arteta and has been down the pecking order at the club during the Spaniard’s tenure.

Nicolas Pepe became the record-signing at Arsenal after a £72 million deal in 2019. However, he failed to live up to the billing and made just 8 starts in the previous campaign at the Emirates, with his name last featuring in the starting XI in October 2021.

The former LOSC Lille attacker joined French club OGC Nice on a season-long loan last summer. The 27-year-old made a fabulous start to the 2022-23 season, scoring 8 times in just 24 games [stats via fbref]. An untimely knee injury ruled him out of action for two months, hampering his form and continuity.

According to The Sun, Nicolas Pepe is one of the players not a part of Mikel Arteta’s plans for next season and Arsenal are looking to make a sale. The Ivory Coast international has lost his place in the starting XI to Bukayo Saka and could be forced out at the end of the season.

OGC Nice do not have the option to make the winger’s loan spell permanent. Moreover, as reported by the French publication L’Equipe (via Metro), the Ligue 1 side have not yet made a final decision on buying the 27-year-old on a permanent deal, despite the forward wanting to extend his stay.

While Pepe is open to the idea of remaining in France, the French club intend to review his performances in the second half of the season before making the call. The Ivorian forward would also have only one year left on his Arsenal contract. This offers Nice some leverage in negotiating the move.

🚨Arsenal will listen to future offers for 27-year-old Ivory Coast player Nicolas Pepe.🇫🇷 🔴#AFC pic.twitter.com/QdUYjFLwqr

— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) March 25, 2023

One of the biggest hurdles for Arsenal in negotiating a sale could be enormous wage roll of Nicolas Pepe. According to Capology, the Ivory Coast winger earns approximately £114,000 a week. To put it into context, Aaron Ramsey is the only other player at Nice who earns six figures.

This means that the English club may eventually be forced to pay the £7 million they still owe him to terminate his contract. The Gunners have taken similar measures in the past as Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Sead Kolasinac, Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers and David Luiz have departed on a free transfer. Arsenal Sporting Director Edu justified the need for such transfers last year [via Independent]:

“When a player is 26 or older, has a big salary and is not performing, he’s killing you,”

He added:

“They don’t have a transfer value and are comfortable on a long contract living in London. So we needed to clean the squad and if we had to pay some to go. I considered it an investment.

“It’s better than having them blocking the path of another player. It’s not a problem if a player has a big salary and performs.

“I know it’s strange to go to the board and tell them. ‘Sometimes it’s better to pay a player to leave than to keep them’.

“I realise that hurts and some people say that it’s expensive – but you have to take the problem out.”

Such an approach has benefitted the North London side in recent years too. They have been able to rope in quality players at more economic rates in recent years. Thus, they have replaced many stars whose performances did not reflect their place on the wage bill.

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However, the Gunners will be hoping to avoid such measures with Pepe’s transfer. The 27-year-old is open to a transfer away from the Emirates but currently has no suitors. However, the Ivorian has just returned to fitness. He could make a good account for himself in the remaining few games of the season. This might help the Gunners recoup a part of the huge transfer fee they splurged on him 4 years ago.

Arsenal are also trying to move out up to 9 other players in the upcoming summer transfer window. Nuno Tavares, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari, Alex Runarsson, Cedric Soares, and Rob Holding have all fallen down the pecking order and could leave in search of minutes. Folarin Balogun, Keiran Tierney, and Albert Sambi Lokonga could also push for a move out as they are unlikely to receive too many minutes next season.

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