Arsenal considering terminating player’s contract who has dropped almost £50m in value since signing

Arsenal are enjoying a strong summer transfer window so far, having finally gotten their hands on marquee signing Declan Rice from West Ham. The Gunners have also strengthened by poaching Kai Havertz from Chelsea and Jurriën Timber from Ajax.

As they look to tackle another Premier League season and insert themselves into the title race, Arsenal still have some time to further bolster their squad, and they continue to be linked to exciting new players. There are also some names who Mikel Arteta is looking to move on this summer and one of them is Nicolas Pépé, who looks set for a rather abrupt end to his Emirates career.

According to Sky Sports (via TEAMtalk), Arsenal are ‘continuing to assess viable options’ for the winger and one of them is to terminate his contract early and allow him to leave as a free agent this summer. Pépé’s current deal runs until June 2024 but since the emergence of now key player Bukayo Saka, he has fallen completely out of favour under Arteta. So much so, that the club are considering parting ways with him prematurely, without even engaging in sale talks.

This would see Arsenal make a pretty hefty loss on the 28-year-old, who signed for the North London club in 2019 for a then club record fee of £72 million. When he joined the Gunners, Pépé was valued at €75 million (£65m) but as his form has declined, so has his Transfermarkt status. The Ivorian is now valued at just €18 million (£15.5m) as he prepares to potentially be without a club for the start of the 2023/24 season.

Pépé spent last season out on loan with Nice, where he enjoyed a positive run featuring eight goals before he picked up a knee injury. His last term with Arsenal saw him miss out on 18 games due to being an unused sub or not being included in the team overall.