Nicolas Pepe 'open to permanent Arsenal exit'

The Ivory Coast international became the Gunners' record signing when the North London giants splashed out £72m to poach him from Lille in the summer of 2019.

Pepe arrived at the Emirates Stadium on the back of scoring 22 goals and providing 11 assists in 38 Ligue 1 appearances during the 2018-19 season, but he has failed to live up to his price tag in North London.

As a result, the 27-year-old was loaned back out to Ligue 1 with Nice for the 2022-23 season, and he has enjoyed a largely positive campaign despite recently struggling with a knee injury.

Pepe's switch to Nice was a straight loan deal with no option or obligation to buy, and he is therefore due to return to Arsenal for the 2023-24 campaign.

However, L'Equipe claims that the attacker would welcome the chance to stay at Nice permanently, as he seemingly has little chance of reigniting his Arsenal career under Mikel Arteta.

The report adds that Nice have not yet made a firm decision, as they want to see how well Pepe does in the final weeks of the season following his comeback from injury.

The Ivorian recently missed nine games for Les Aiglons with the issue, but he returned to the tip of the attack and played the full 90 minutes in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Lorient, having previously come off the bench against Sheriff Tiraspol.

Pepe has registered a respectable eight goals and one assist from 25 games in a Nice shirt during the 2022-23 season, as Didier Digard's side sit seventh in the Ligue 1 table and prepare to meet Basel in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.

Digard recently lavished praise on the "feared" Pepe following his comeback from injury, telling reporters: "Before his injury, he remained on very good performances.

"This is an advantage for us. We don't see it as 'we find someone when it was going well, how are we going to do it?' Not at all, it is an additional weapon.

"He is capable of making a difference at any time, we saw that against Tiraspol. He has a facility to eliminate his adversaries in one-on-one. I think he is feared by the opponents so he can free up space for us. He is a fast player who keeps the ball well. He has many qualities."

Pepe has recorded 27 goals and 21 assists from 112 outings in an Arsenal shirt since becoming their most expensive signing of all time, but he is out of contract in 2024.

With Arsenal reluctant to let their £72m man leave on a free transfer, they will most likely try to recoup a small portion of that fee this summer after Pepe fell behind the likes of Bukayo Saka, Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson in the right-wing pecking order.

The versatile Leandro Trossard has also hit the ground running since joining from Brighton & Hove Albion in January, while Marquinhos will also return from his loan spell at Norwich City in the summer.