Mikel Arteta has been urged to sell £72million flop Nicolas Pepe and five other Arsenal stars in the summer transfer window. Pepe has fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium after being allowed to leave on loan last term despite being the club's record signing.
The Gunners are expected to break their club record transfer fee in a £105million deal to sign West Ham captain Declan Rice this week. The England international completed a two-part medical over the weekend and Arteta is hoping that the 24-year-old will join his squad ahead of Arsenal's pre-season tour in America.
Jurrien Timber is on the verge of becoming the Gunners' second summer signing after agreeing a £40million switch to the Emirates Stadium. Kai Havertz has already signed for Arsenal after completing a £65million switch to north London from Chelsea this summer.
Arteta and Edu Gaspar are working together to reshape the senior squad ahead of the 2023/24 campaign as Arsenal prepare for a return to the Champions League. A versatile forward and another midfield signing could be completed before the summer transfer window closes - with the Gunners set to sell a number of fringe players.
Former Gunners striker Alan Smith has urged Arsenal to get a few players ‘off the wage bill’, starting with Pepe and Folarin Balogun, with the latter attracting interest from several clubs across Europe. "It is hard because he’s [Balogun] a few notches down the pecking order now, especially with Havertz coming into the squad," Smith told Gambling Zone.
"I think the management probably see Nketiah being further ahead of him at the moment, they are similar types of players, and the club must think that Nketiah is a little bit better than Balogun. From Balogun’s point of view, he will be thinking more about how much game time he’s going to get.
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"Given that he doesn’t want to go back out on loan, he may have to leave the football club. It’s always a shame when somebody has come through the ranks like that and does leave.
"There is every chance that he could go on and have a fantastic career elsewhere and score lots of goals. If he does move on, it will give Arsenal a chance to recoup quite a lot of money.
"He’s a valuable player who can probably fetch £30million plus after the season he had in France. With financial fair play and all the rest of it, that that could help Arsenal a fair bit."
Smith believes Arsenal should try to recoup some of the £72m they spent on Pepe, while he has urged Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga to also seek exits from the Emirates Stadium. "Nicolas Pepe, I haven’t seen too much about him in the papers regarding a move," Smith added.
"‘He was bought for far too much money, and it’d be great to recoup some of that because I don’t think Arteta is a massive fan. You can’t hang your hat on him.
"Players like Tavares and Lokonga, promising youngsters, could move on. Arteta certainly does need to get two or three players off of the wage bill.
"Rob Holding has been linked with a move away. There’s not much potential for him to get into the team now.
"I think you’d be loathe to let him go because he just seems like such a good team player. Holding is great in the dressing room and he will always give it his all but he is probably a level below where you need to be for Arsenal - he may have to leave."
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