‘Phenomenal’ Arsenal player is ready to move to Saudi Arabia now – journalist

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Nicolas Pepe is surplus to requirements at Arsenal, and the Ivorian will almost definitely be allowed to leave the club in the coming weeks.

The Gunners signed the Ivory Coast international from Lille for a club-record fee back in 2019. He came in with a lot of hype following a sensational season in France, but he never quite lived up to his price tag in the Premier League.

Now, Pepe looks set to leave Arsenal, and Chris Wheatley has claimed on 3AddedMinutes that he’s open to a move to Saudi Arabia this summer.

Nicolas Pepe is ready to leave Arsenal and move to Saudi Arabia

Nicolas Pepe, on his day, is a ‘phenomenal‘ player, but consistency has been his biggest issue over the last four years.

The Ivorian played 112 times for the Gunners and was directly involved in 48 goals, which seems like a really poor record considering the amount of money he cost. However, Pepe only started 67 of those games and was never quite the first-choice under Mikel Arteta.

The Arsenal boss shipped him out on loan to Nice in France last summer, and Pepe had a very average season there as well. He managed eight goals and an assist in 28 appearances, and the Ligue 1 side have no interest in signing him permanently.

Now, Arsenal have decided he has to leave the club, and Wheatley has revealed that Pepe is open to following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema by leaving Europe to join a club in Saudi Arabia.

The journalist said: “Nicolas Pepe and Cedric Soares are both surplus to requirements at Arsenal. Their representatives are currently trying to find them new teams ahead of the 2023/24 season.

“Pepe in particular is open-minded to moving to Saudi Arabia, where a flurry of marquee names have arrived in recent weeks. However, the Gunners will have to accept taking a major hit on the £72 million they paid for the Ivorian back in 2019.”

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It’s a shame that Pepe is willing to leave European football for Saudi Arabia when he’s still just 28 years old. He’s so talented and if he can find a manager who can make him consistent again, he could become a superstar.

That manager, sadly, is unlikely to be Arteta this summer, who has apparently made up his mind that he doesn’t need Pepe at Arsenal anymore.

That opens the door for a move away this summer, and despite the standard of football not being on the same level as most leagues in Europe, Pepe will likely make a lot of money if he moves to Saudi.

If that’s what he wants, he should go and get it this summer.