Transfer Centre

Nicolas Pepe hints at summer Arsenal exit

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 29 March 2022

Arsenal attacker Nicolas Pepe admits that he will have to consider his future in the summer transfer window amid his struggles for game time in North London.

Arsenal attacker Nicolas Pepe has conceded that he will have to consider his future at the end of the season.

Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe are all ahead of the 26-year-old in the Gunners' pecking order, and he has started just five Premier League games in the 2021-22 season.

Mikel Arteta claimed to have seen a "different" Pepe since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, but the former Lille man has still struggled for regular minutes in the side.

Pepe has now affirmed that he will weigh up his future this summer, telling reporters: "I am focused on how well we do until the end of the season and the club's target, which is getting into the Champions League. Then we will see what happens.

"When a team is winning it is hard for a coach to make changes. Mikel Arteta has explained that to me and the coach knows what I think and how hard I'm working.

"It is also about communication. Sometimes it's not easy to communicate with the language barrier. It has been a tough season for me. Of course, it is frustrating not to play. No player enjoys not playing but I have to respect the coach's decision and the team is doing well at the moment."

Pepe has scored 27 goals and set up 20 more in 107 appearances for Arsenal since his £72m arrival from Lille in the summer of 2019, and Arteta "hopes" to see the Ivory Coast international remain at the Emirates, where he has a contract until 2024.