Arsenal hero Alan Smith has urged his former side to sanction a five-man selling spree during the summer transfer window which would see the departure of Nicolas Pepe.
Pepe, who sent a clear message with his recent activity on Instagram which captured him working out in a bid to return from his summer in top shape, is out of contract in a year having spent the 2022/23 campaign on loan at Nice in France. Bought for £72 million in 2019, Pepe has been a flop for the Gunners and is out of contract in a year with Mikel Arteta's side set to move the player on and rid themselves of a reported £140,00 per-week contract for a player who has contributed little to his club.
Allowing fringe players or those who do not see their immediate futures at the club to leave will save Arsenal money after a big-spending summer that will see more talent arrive at the club. The Gunners have already splashed the cash during the first few weeks of the window, bringing in Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £65million.
A club-record £105million deal for Declan Rice has also been agreed with West Ham United, as has their £38.5million move for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber, with announcements for those two moves expected this week. Mikel Arteta's men have pocketed £21.5million for veteran midfielder Granit Xhaka, who joined Bayer Leverkusen last week and Smith has now advised sporting director Edu to sanction the exit of Pepe.
CIES Football Observatory values at Pepe at around €10million (£8.5million), meaning that if Arsenal sold him for his estimated value then they would make a whopping £63.5million loss. It would not be unreasonable to expect Arsenal to strike a deal for the player to leave for little, with the club likely more-than-happy to see a player depart who is not in Arteta's plans and on a big contract.
"Nicolas Pepe, I haven’t seen too much about him in the papers regarding a move, Smith told Gambling Zone via Football365.
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“‘He was bought for far too much money, and it’d be great to recoup some of that because I don’t think Arteta is a massive fan. You can’t hang your hat on him."
Pepe, 28, has made 112 appearances for Arsenal and has scored 27 goals and assisted 21 for his team-mates.
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