20 March 2023 , 16:18
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Arsenal flop Nicolas Pepe is understood to be open to a permanent stay with French side Nice, where he is spending the season on loan.
The Ivorian forward remains Arsenal's record signing after arriving for £72million in the summer of 2019 but will only have one year left on his contract if he returns to north London this summer. Nice could make his loan move permanent, according to L'Equipe, as the Sir Jim Ratcliffe -owned club prepare to assess his performances until the end of the campaign.
It's added in the report that the Ligue 1 outfit don't have a designated option to buy Pepe, 27, but could explore a deal with Arsenal which would see him remain in the south of France. The former Lille winger recently returned from a two-month injury lay-off and has scored eight goals in 25 appearances this term.
Nice manager Didier Digard, who replaced Lucien Favre at the Allianz Riviera Stadium in January following a string of poor results just before Pepe suffered a knee injury, is a fan of the Ivory Coast international and what he offers. "The team was already doing well when he left," Digard explained following Pepe's return in a recent Europa Conference League win against Moldovan minnows Sheriff Tiraspol.
"Before his injury, he was performing very well. It's an advantage for us. We don't see it like, 'We find someone while it was going well, how are we going to do it?'. Not at all, he is an extra weapon. He's capable of making a difference at any time, we saw that against Tiraspol. He can eliminate his opponents one on one. I think he is feared by the opponents, so he can free up space for us."
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Nicolas Pepe would be open to staying with Nice (Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images)Mikel Arteta has rarely discussed the 27-year-old's future publicly, but the Arsenal boss certainly appreciates Pepe's attitude after a difficult first three seasons with the Gunners following his record-breaking move. "I think Nico has tried to deal with that [the price tag] in the best possible way, he is not responsible for the price a club pays for him," Arteta explained back in August.
"He has tried everything, his attitude and the way he is is just phenomenal. You just have to meet the person because you just love him for the way he is. But then in terms of the decision you have to make on the pitch, who do you select, we made other decisions and obviously that has had an impact on the chances he had to prove his quality.
"It's been three years and he had some very good moments, some others where he hasn't really contributed much in terms of minutes."