Nicolas Pepe may have dropped a hint that he will be staying at Arsenal this summer.
The Gunners have been extremely active during the first six weeks of the transfer window, splashing in excess of £110 million on five first-team players. Proven Premier League stars Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus have joined from Manchester City. Experienced American goalkeeper Matt Turner, young winger Marquinhos and highly-rated midfielder Fabio Vieira have also arrived at the Emirates Stadium in recent weeks.
Still, manager Mikel Arteta has emphasised the need to offload a number of fringe players before thinking about adding additional signings to the squad. When asked if there was more business to be done during the remainder of the window, Arteta replied: "I don't know, it's what we have today, and as well we have a large squad, so we have to make some decisions on the players that we're not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them, and that's a process that's going to start very soon, as well."
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One player that has been heavily linked with a summer exit is club-record signing Nicolas Pepe, who started just five Premier League matches last season. However, the Ivorian international has now taken to social media, claiming that he has been working hard all summer ahead of next month's Premier League opener against Crystal Palace.
"I worked hard during the summer," his Instagram post read. "Change lot of things.
"I'm focused and determined with @arsenal and my teammates." The former Lille star's assessment makes it seem like he is focused on playing for the north Londoners next season, something that would be a major shock to Arsenal fans - most of which expected him to leave the club this summer.
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