Arsenal ‘seek buyers’ for big-money flop as Arteta decides two players are ‘not in his plans’
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is reportedly looking to sell Nicolas Pepe and Cedric Soares this summer after deciding they are not in his plans for the 2023/24 campaign.
Pepe joined the Gunners from French club Lille for a club-record £72million fee in 2019.
It has not quite happened for the Ivorian winger at the Emirates, however, and he spent last season on loan with Nice.
The Ligue 1 side confirmed they will not sign Pepe on a permanent basis, meaning he will return to north London for pre-season with his parent club.
And a report from The Telegraph’s Sam Dean states Arteta has ‘no plans to reintegrate’ the 28-year-old into his first-team squad for next season.
Pepe only has a year left on his Arsenal contract and the Spanish manager is hopeful there will be some interest shown in the player in the ‘coming weeks’.
If the Gunners fail to sell the winger before the transfer deadline, they could terminate his contract, and with that stance being known, there is a possibility clubs will not bother paying a fee.
Understandably, Arsenal, Arteta, and sporting director Edu are eager to avoid that scenario and want to receive a transfer fee of some kind, no matter how small.
The report adds that full-back Cedric Soares is also not in Arteta’s plans after he spent the second half of last term on loan at Fulham.
Cedric signed for Arsenal on a free transfer in 2020 after initially joining on loan. He didn’t actually play a game for the club before they agreed to sign him from Southampton due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In terms of other outgoing transfers, Dean adds that Kieran Tierney and Granit Xhaka are ‘expected to leave’, while Rob Holding ‘could also follow them through the exit door’.
Tierney is attracting interest from Newcastle United and Aston Villa after losing his place in the Gunners’ starting XI to Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Xhaka, meanwhile, is expected to join German club Bayer Leverkusen for a fee in the region of £13m.
The Swiss midfielder will be allowed to leave after Arteta brings in a replacement, with West Ham’s Declan Rice reportedly closing in on a move to the Emirates.
Rice is likely to cost north of £100m, which would eclipse the club record fee they paid for Pepe.
The report adds that Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan remains a target for Arsenal, who are also contemplating making a bid for Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
The latter will cost at least £70m, which is what Arsenal offered the Seagulls in January, though their Premier League rivals had no intention to sell one of their best players mid-season.
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