Nicolas Pepe wants to force his way into Mikel Arteta’s starting XI at Arsenal this season amid rumours he could leave the club.
The Ivory Coast international started just five Premier League matches last campaign, contributing one goal and two assists in 20 league appearances overall.
Pepe joined Arsenal from Lille for £72m in 2019 but he has failed to live up to expectations despite showing glimpses of his obvious talent.
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The 2020-21 season saw him have his best goalscoring campaign, bagging 16 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions.
But he went backwards last term and there are now rumours that he could leave the club in this transfer window as they look to get his salary off the wage bill.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has named Pepe as one of four players, along with Lucas Torriera, Hector Bellerin and Nuno Tavares, who Arsenal will allow to leave the club this summer.
While there has been speculation that Newcastle United see Pepe as ‘attainable’ with Spanish side Sevilla also understood to be keen on his signature.
But Pepe isn’t letting any of the rumours distract him with the 27-year-old posting an update on Instagram, he wrote: “I worked hard during the summer. Change lot of things. I’m focus and determined with @arsenal and my teammates.”
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Arsenal technical director Edu admits it can be tricky to move on unwanted players but he is hoping to “find the best solution possible” for a number of players this summer.
Edu told Sky Sports: “No, but it’s a part of our job to try to create some opportunities for the players. I think the most important thing is to make the player understand why he is here or why he needs to go, and then we have to create some possibilities with the player’s agents and try to find the best solution possible for the player.
