Nicolas Pepe's Arsenal career has been a major disappointment.
The Gunners spent a club-record £72 million to prise Pepe away from Ligue 1 side Lille back in the summer of 2019. Since then, the Ivorian has shown flashes of brilliance but ultimately could never find the consistency to establish himself as one of the first names on Mikel Arteta's teamsheet.
Now, football.london understands that the 27-year-old is closing in on a return to the French top-flight, joining OGC Nice on a season-long loan. This comes just one year after Arteta had admitted that he had high hopes for the talented winger to realise his full potential in north London.
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“I am very encouraged and positive for two reasons", the Spaniard said when discussing Pepe back in May 2021. “One, because he has come a long way in terms of consistency and what he’s producing in games. Not in the Premier League, but what he’s done in Europe this season. And the second one because he’s changed his mindset.
"He wants to look at every mindset, he wants to look at every post-match reflection that we do with him. Individually he wants to work and he wants to be the best. When that happens and he has the talent that he has, I think it’s a really good mixture.”
Unfortunately for all concerned, that never proved to be the case.
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