Nicolas Pepe now happy to leave Arsenal this summer, he’s not in Mikel Arteta’s plans

By Ben Evans

Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe is now reportedly happy to leave the club this summer, after spending the season on loan at Nice.

That’s according to French outlet L’Equipe, who have provided an update on the Ivorian international’s future.

The 27-year-old was not part of Mikel Arteta’s plans at the start of the season at The Emirates.

Despite praising his attitude in training, Pepe left Arsenal to join Nice on loan for the rest of the season.

Pepe has started just over half of Nice’s Ligue 1 games this season, missing two months of action due to injury.

He’s scored six goals for the club, as Nice continue to compete in the Europa Conference League.

Pepe struggled throughout his time at Arsenal, and could never really live up to his club-record £72m fee.

In his final full season at The Emirates, he started just five league matches, and looked to be on his way.

The incredible development of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli has allowed Mikel Arteta to discard Pepe.

He now looks set to leave the club for good in the summer.

Arsenal star Pepe happy to leave this summer after Nice loan

The report from L’Equipe states that, ‘Pépé and Nice have three months left to find out if they can extend their adventure beyond this season on loan.

‘The player, who has just one year left on his contract at Arsenal, is said to have nothing against it, but Nice will wait until they have seen a lot more from him before going further.

‘For the time being, nothing has been decided in either direction.’

The youthful revolution under Mikel Arteta was always going to make it difficult for Pepe to win him over.

A move to the Premier League never worked out for Pepe, and Kevin Campbell suggested over Christmas he had probably played his last game for the club.

If he had set Ligue 1 alight, like fellow loanee Folarin Balogun has done, then maybe Arteta would consider integrating him back into the squad.

However, Pepe looks very unlikely to have a future at Arsenal, despite finding his feet at Nice this season.

He could be the only Arsenal player to end the campaign with a European trophy though, which would be an impressive feat.