8 months ago
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Nicolas Pepe cost Arsenal ‘significantly more’ than £100m in transfer fees and wages before his contract was terminated, according to reports.
Pepe flopped at Arsenal after joining from Lille in 2019 for £72m – a club-record deal at the time – and moved to Trabzonspor as a free agent in September.
The Ivory Coast international, who mainly operates as a right winger but can also play as a striker, was part of a clique that boss Mikel Arteta felt held Arsenal back.
Pepe was subsequently offloaded and it’s now been reported by The Telegraph that the 28-year-old cost Arsenal ‘significantly more’ than £100m overall.
That includes his transfer fee and wages while Pepe’s substantial fall in value contributed to around £18m in losses.
Pepe made a total of 112 appearances for the Gunners, producing 27 goals and 21 assists.
‘Every case has been very different and and in the end, it is a few parties who have to agree to something,’ Arteta said about the nature of Pepe’s departure earlier this season. ‘It is not a decision that I take alone.’
Arsenal’s former head of football Raul Sanllehi led the move for Pepe before abruptly leaving the north Londoners in August 2020.
It is thought that ex-Arsenal head coach Unai Emery wanted the Gunners to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace instead of Pepe.
That move never happened, though, with Zaha instead swapping Selhurst Park for Galatasaray in July 2023.
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