“He’s not consistent and not many coaches like that” – Alan Smith says it will be ‘bonus’ if Arteta can offload Arsenal star this summer
Arsenal legend Alan Smith has urged his former club to get rid of Nicolas Pepe, even if they make a huge loss.
The 27-year-old Frenchman joined the Gunners from Lille in 2019 for £72 million on a five-year contract (Transfermarkt), but the winger has been a monumental flop.
Nicolas Pepe is now expected to stay at Arsenal this summer.
Arsenal won’t stand in his way if a suitable offers arrives in the last month of the window. However as it stands right now, there’s no clubs interested in paying the fee Arsenal want, which is £25m-£30m.
Pepe has scored just 27 goals in 112 appearances across competitions for the north London club and has fallen down Mikel Arteta's pecking order for attacking options. Smith has urged Arsenal to go down a similar road to the way they released Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The duo were on huge wages before having their contracts terminated.
Speaking to The Express, former England striker Smith stated:
"As a lot of clubs find out, getting rid of Premier League players when they’re on such good contracts is so difficult. 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."
He added:
"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."
Mark Irwin: Nicolas Pepe will also be shifted to the departure lounge if Arteta can achieve his ambition of signing another winger after missing out on £55m Raphinha.
Mikel Arteta reveals players will have to leave before Arsenal can sign more stars
The Gunners have enjoyed an excellent transfer window so far as they have brought in five new players. These include Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner.
However, the club will be disappointed by the lack of outgoings over the summer, especially with several fringe players still on big contracts.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of his side's opening Premier League clash with Crystal Palace on Friday (August 5), Arteta was asked if the Gunners are looking to bring more players in. He stated (as per The Daily Mail):
"We are really active as you can see with incomings and outgoings. Everything is still open, it’s a long window, a lot has happened, it’s incredible how much business the clubs have done across the Premier League and it shows how competitive it is and this season is not going to stop that.
"Players are going to have the need to leave, some others to move and everything is open still."
Arsenal are working on ‘many names’ with Mikel Arteta keen on more signings , Arteta has already confirmed the club remain active in this window. #AFC
Movement on Youri Tielemens is expected by Leicester soon. 🔴⚪️
At the moment it is really important to complete the outgoings. https://t.co/z50B7sGViL