Striker Nicola Pepe, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League (EPL) and plays for French Ligue 1 OGC Nice, has been on the list for release this summer.

On the 25th local time, the British media The Sun predicted that “Arsenal plans to send 7 people including Pepe.” Pepe’s loan contract with Nice expires at the end of June. If the transfer is not successful before that, the possibility of returning to the original team and becoming a Nakdonggang duck egg has increased.

Pepe went through Ligue 1 club LOSC Lille and wore an Arsenal uniform in the summer of 2019. At the time, the transfer fee was 80 million euros (KRW 111.9 billion), the highest amount in Arsenal’s history. Pepe had 37 goals and 18 assists in 79 appearances for Lille. Fans’ expectations were high.

However, his performance at Arsenal was elusive. He only managed to score 27 goals in 112 matches. Ten of these goals came in his second season, but his overall performance fluctuated greatly. His ability to score goals has always been a problem.

Pepe, who lost the trust of the club, has been reduced to a bench resource. He has not been in the starting list at Arsenal since October 2021. Eventually, head coach Mikel Arteta removed Pepe from his squad plan ahead of the season.안전놀이터

Pepe is playing an active role again on the French stage, which he is familiar with. He scored eight goals and provided one assist in 25 appearances for Nice this season.

Nevertheless, it is the evaluation of many media that his place is no longer left at Arsenal. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka took Pepe’s place.

It is also unclear whether he will be able to remain in Nice. It is known that the current contract between Nice and Pepe does not include a full transfer option. However, Nice coach Didier Digar recently praised Pepe as “a player who can make a difference in any situation” and “a fast player who handles the ball well and has many talents.”

Several French media outlets, including Requipe, reported that “Pepe is open to the idea of ​​staying in Nice.” However, another media, Football Today, predicted that “Nice is still in a cautious position (to Pepe’s complete recruitment)” and that “the remaining three months will be a very important period for Pepe’s future.”