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Nicolas Pepe close to leaving Arsenal on permanent transfer

  • Nicolas Pepe was Arsenal's club record signing until recently
  • Winger spent last season on loan at Nice in France
  • Turkey & Saudi Arabia still have open transfer windows

By Graeme Bailey

Nicolas Pepe is finally set to leave Arsenal
Nicolas Pepe is finally set to leave Arsenal / Catherine Steenkeste/GettyImages
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Besiktas are close to finalising a deal for Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe, 90min understands, with the transfer window in Turkey remaining open until 15 September.

The 28-year-old, still Arsenal's record signing at £72m until Declan Rice joined the club in July, has long accepted that his future lies away from the Emirates Stadium. Now, things are aligning for him to seal a transfer, with one year left on his Gunners contract.

Having made his name during a couple of prolific seasons with Lille, Pepe spent last season on loan back in France with Nice. A return to the Arsenal squad was never an option with manager Mikel Arteta recently confirming that he would be allowed to move on.

"We are still looking for solutions," Arteta said last week. "There is a lot of communication between his agent and the player and the club at the moment but there is nothing else to announce at the moment."

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90min can now reveal that Pepe is set to join Besiktas. The Istanbul side will pay a nominal fee to Arsenal for the Ivory Coast international. It is also understood that Pepe will be taking a significant wage drop to move to the Turkey's Super Lig.

Pepe, who joined Arsenal in 2019, is still one of club's highest paid players on around £250,000 per week. That is one of the reasons the Gunners have been anxious to move him on.

It is understood a number of Saudi Pro League clubs had shown an interest, although the player himself was keen to remain in Europe and is now heading for Turkey.

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