Nicolas Pepe's future appears to be away from Arsenal.
Pepe joined the North Londoners for a club-record fee of £72 million back in the summer of 2019. The Ivory coast international was coming off the back of a standout 2018/19 campaign at Ligue 1 side Lille but he failed to replicate that kind of form consistently in the Premier League.
Eventually, he spent last term on loan back in France, with Nice. The 28-year-old missed the final part of the season out injured and he doesn't appear to have returned to the Gunners' London Colney training base ahead of pre-season.
In fact, he has now taken to social media to post a video of himself working out in a gym on his own. Of course, he may still not quite be fit enough to take part in a full training session at the moment, uploading a video of him doing a recovery session with a personal trainer last week in some footage that also revealed him getting some treatment on his right knee.
"I will return to Arsenal. I was loaned without an option to buy so I have to go back to Arsenal," he told YouTube channel Colinterview, via the Metro during a recent interview.
"I don't know [about my future] yet. When I get back, I’ll speak with the coach and everyone and see what everyone's ideas are and then we'll make a decision."
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Pepe is no longer a part of Mikel Arteta's plans after falling down the pecking order in the squad towards the end of the 2021/22 season. Arsenal are keen to receive a fee for him, but football.london understands plans have been made for the termination of his contract if required.
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