Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe is open to signing permanently with Ligue 1 side OGC Nice this summer, according to recent reports.
Pepe joined the Gunners back in the summer of 2019, signing for a club-record £72million following a stellar campaign with Lille. Despite showing some glimmers of talent, the Ivorian international struggled to live up to the hype, suffering from inconsistencies and eventually being usurped in Mikel Arteta's starting line-up by Hale End academy graduate Bukayo Saka.
Arteta then decided to send him on loan to Nice last summer, where the player is open to staying after his loan expires, as per French outlet L'Equipe. The Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned side don't have a buy option in the 27-year-old's contract, although he will be into the final 12 months of his deal at the Emirates Stadium this summer, meaning Arsenal will likely struggle to recuperate even a third of the transfer fee they shelled out to sign the tricky attacker four years ago.
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Pepe, who had been sidelined with a knee injury for two months, has impressed Nice boss Didier Digard, who replaced Lucien Favre in the managerial dugout earlier this year. "The team was already doing well when he left," Digard said when Pepe returned to action on Thursday for a Europa Conference League win against Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol.
"Before his injury, he was performing very well. It's an advantage for us. We don't see it like, 'We find someone while it was going well, how are we going to do it?'
"Not at all, he is an extra weapon. He's capable of making a difference at any time, we saw that against Tiraspol. He can eliminate his opponents one on one. I think he is feared by the opponents, so he can free up space for us."
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