Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe "will certainly" leave the Emirates Stadium "soon" as the Gunners have shown to be "ruthless", says reporter Charles Watts.
Who will leave Arsenal?
The Gunners have been very busy this transfer window, having spent north of £200 million already and further additions haven't been ruled out.
Germany international winger Kai Havertz put pen to paper on a £65 million move from Chelsea, while Arsenal eventually confirmed the club-record signing of midfielder Declan Rice in a £105 million deal.
Former Ajax defender and Netherlands international Jurrien Timber is now an Arsenal player as well, strengthening Mikel Arteta's ranks significantly ahead of the 2023/2024 Premier League season.
However, to balance the books, certain stars need to be ejected from the squad. Thomas Partey, who has attracted interest from Saudi sides in the Middle East, is being repeatedly linked with an Arsenal exit while their USA international Folarin Balogun can also leave for around £50 million.
Pepe, who was once Arsenal's club-record acquisition after his £72m move from Nice in 2019, is certainly on the chopping block as journalist Watts explains to TEAMtalk.
“He’s got one year left on his contract and he’s not part of Arsenal’s plans. It’s very, very clear," said Watts.
“He’s on such high wages; they’ve ended up cancelling contracts with a lot of those big name players from that era at the club. Pepe is probably the last of them who they haven’t managed to deal with.
“[Sead] Kolasinac, [Shkodran] Mustafi, as well as [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil. They’ve shown they can be ruthless.
“Edu’s talked about it before. He’d much rather cancel a contract than have someone on big wages just sitting around for a season because he says that does a squad no good at all. He’s gone on record as saying that.
“It would not surprise me if that happened which seems remarkable when you think this is Arsenal’s club-record signing, a £72m signing.
“We’ll have to wait and see but I think Arsenal, from their point of view, they would love someone from Saudi Arabia becoming interested in Pepe.
"We shall wait and see what happens but one thing’s for sure: he’s got no long term future at Arsenal. He’ll certainly be gone soon. He’s one of the highest earners, probably in the top five.”
How good is Nicolas Pepe?
Despite some injury problems on loan at Nice last season, Pepe displayed moments of real quality – chipping in with six goals over his temporary spell (WhoScored).
Statistically, he was actually one of the Ligue 1 side's most potent threats in the final third – completing more successful take-ons per 90 than any other player in their squad (WhoScored).
The 28-year-old also ranked in Nice's top two for both attempts at goal and key passes completed on average – making him a credible candidate for any side who wish to add firepower.
After-all, there's a reason Arteta's side once smashed their transfer record to bring him to north London.
However, his salary could be an issue for any interested side, so the player himself may need to take a considerable pay cut on his reported £140,000-per-week wages.