Ligue 1 outfit OGC Nice have, on Friday, confirmed the club’s plans for Arsenal attacker Nicolas Pepe.
And the news will come as a blow to any who had maintained hope of Nice adding to Arsenal’s summer transfer budget, by way of a permanent deal for the Ivorian.
Instead, Les Aiglons have come to the decision to send Pepe back to north London with immediate effect, as per an official statement released a short time ago.
🔴 Transfers@joebryan, @Nicolaspepe1919, @RBarkley8 and @AndyDelort9‘s Nice stays have come to an end.
Everyone at #OGCNice would like to wish them the best of luck for the rest of their careers.https://t.co/FiLauHOBaH
— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) June 9, 2023
The talented wide-man, all told, racked up 28 appearances across all competitions whilst back in France, notching a respectable eight goals along the way.
Frequent inconsistency, coupled with an ongoing knee issue, however, have seen the powers that be at the Allianz Riviera make the definitive call not to enter into negotiations over extending Pepe’s stint with the club.
He joins all of Fulham’s Joe Bryan, ex-Everton midfielder Ross Barkley and forward Andy Delort in seeing his time with Nice come to an end.
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