Arsenal 'willing to terminate Nicolas Pepe contract'

The 28-year-old has failed to live up to his £72m price tag since joining the Gunners in a record-breaking deal from Lille in the summer of 2019 under Unai Emery.

With the emergence of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli hindering his chances of game time, Pepe was given the green light to return to Ligue 1 with Nice for the 2022-23 campaign.

The Ivorian scored a respectable eight goals in 28 games for Les Aiglons in all tournaments, but he was also bedevilled by injuries and only started 17 Ligue 1 matches.

Pepe's agreement with Nice did not include an option or obligation to make his stay permanent, and he is therefore poised to return to Arsenal for pre-season training, but his contract only runs until the end of next season.

With Arsenal managing to return to the Champions League without Pepe in the squad, the 28-year-old seemingly has no future in North London, and The Telegraph claims that the Gunners will attempt to sell him ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Nice have already confirmed that they will not be keeping the attacker on the books, but Arsenal are reportedly hopeful of receiving bids in the coming weeks.

The Gunners are willing to take a major hit on the £72m they forked out for Pepe in 2019, but if no suitable bids arrive, the Ivory Coast international's contract could be terminated instead.

Such a scenario will only be considered as a last resort, though, as Arsenal are attempting to avoid another high-profile contract termination after Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's Gunners careers ended in that manner.

Pepe won the FA Cup in his debut season with Arsenal and boasts a total of 27 goals and 21 assists in 112 games for the Gunners, hitting double figures in the 2020-21 Premier League campaign.

Having had a direct hand in three goals during the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations - two of his own and one assist - Arteta hoped that he would see a "different" Pepe for the second half of that campaign.

However, Pepe scored just once in the 2021-22 Premier League season, and he is unlikely to still be Arsenal's most expensive player by the end of the summer as the Gunners try to close a deal with West Ham United for Declan Rice.

Arteta's side could end up paying as much as £100m including add-ons to bring Rice to the Emirates, where he could replace Granit Xhaka ahead of his expected £13m move to Bayer Leverkusen.

Xhaka and Pepe are two of several Arsenal players who could be axed this summer, as Ainsley Maitland-Niles has already confirmed his exit on a free transfer, while Charlie Patino is believed to be heading for the exit door as well.

Folarin Balogun, Thomas Partey, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Alex Runarsson, Auston Trusty and Cedric Soares are all being linked with exits, although the latter supposedly wants to stay and fight for his place in North London.