Mikel Arteta urged to complete Arsenal transfer deal for £72M attacker
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has urged his old side to sell Nicolas Pepe this summer.
The £72million record signing has struggled to hold down a place in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI and has been linked with leaving in recent times, with the likes of Lyon and Marseille both reported to be following the player’s situation at Arsenal with interest amid reports the player was assessing his options during the January transfer window.
However, despite all the speculation and despite all the rumours that he could actually depart the club in January, Pepe opted to stay put at the club and try to fight for his place in the side
But that has not stopped speculation about his long-term future at the club as Arteta will look to continue revamping the squad for the rest of the summer transfer window, and is reportedly open to the idea of letting the star leave
Now – amid all the speculation – Smith has opened up and told Arsenal that they need to sell the winger this summer: “As a lot of clubs find out, getting rid of Premier League players when they’re on such good contracts is so difficult,” Smith told Express Sport, in association with Sky Bet.
“At times, Arsenal have had to take hits on Aubameyang and Ozil just to get them out of the door.
“It does take a long time to turn the squad over. You can get players out on loan but they come back again. Pepe is the big one because they bought him for over £70million. They’re not going to get anything like that back. Nothing like it.
“It was one of the worst transfer amounts, not as bad as Lukaku but it was up there.
“He doesn’t appear to be Arteta’s cup of tea. He’s not consistent and not many coaches like that. So if they could get Pepe out of the door then that would be a bonus.”
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There is no doubt that Pepe has real quality, but he is so frustrating to watch and Gunners fans just want him to show more desire.
But the best thing for all involved would surely be to leave the club?
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