Nicolas Pepe reveals surprise request Arsenal made before his exit, it went badly ‘wrong’

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Nicolas Pepe was Arsenal’s record signing in 2019, as the Gunners beat competition from Bayern Munich to secure the signature of the Lille winger.

Although Pepe did show flashes of quality, his time at Arsenal did not go as expected following his £72m transfer, and he was loaned out after just two years at the club.

The Ivorian eventually had his contract terminated last summer, and the 29-year-old moved to Turkish side Trabzonspor. He could not find his form in Turkey either, and Pepe suffered a disaster as he gave away a goal with a huge error in the last minute of the Turkish Cup final which consigned his side to defeat.

Pepe is now a free agent again, and his future is unclear. Pepe could join Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in moving to the Saudi Pro League, but he has now revealed that this was not an option to him last year.

Nicolas Pepe claims Arsenal did not want him to move to Saudi Arabia

Pepe terminated his contract last year after the transfer window closed and no move materialised, but he has now revealed that Arsenal not only turned down offers for him during the window, but also requested that he did not move to Saudi Arabia after becoming a free agent.

“I didn’t care about the money. In Nice, I sat on 25% of my salary. I just wanted to play. I would have liked to terminate earlier in the summer but Arsenal didn’t want to,” he revealed in an interview with L’Equipe.

“They said: “We bought you for €80m (£72m), vis-a-vis the media, we can’t.”

“They asked for large sums of money so it ended up going wrong every time. They ended up accepting after the European market closed.

“Only the Gulf countries and Turkey remained. But Arsenal only agreed to cancel, on the condition that I agreed not to join Saudi Arabia. It was a question of image. And there was this offer from Trabzonspor.”

Why Arsenal did not want Nicolas Pepe to move to Saudi Arabia

Pepe’s comments come as something of a surprise, given that Arsenal seemed eager to get his wages off the books, and perhaps the offers that came in for him during the window were not financially reasonable in this sense.

Edu Gaspar yet again went through great expense to rip up a contract of a once valuable asset, and perhaps Arsenal saw the negative image of their transfer policy that would develop if they terminated Pepe’s contract, for him to then move to the Saudi Pro League, who were freely spending on players from Chelsea and Manchester City.

If Pepe moves to Saudi Arabia now, Arsenal will not be fussed in the slightest, but it seems that just like his playing time at the club, Pepe’s exit from Arsenal was not handled in the best way.