Arsenal have a simple Nicolas Pepe transfer decision to make

Where Arsenal go from here is upwards. The trajectory of this team and this manager is quite conclusively going in the right direction even if there remains work to be done.

So much of the aforementioned work can’t begin until the outcome of the season is determined. With five matches left to play Arsenal have their top four aspirations within their own hands. Match Tottenham’s results and they’ll be back in the Champions League.

Which competition they’re taking part in next season will affect the budget as much as it will the calibre of players they can attract. Names like Gabriel Jesus and Victor Osimhen have been earmarked as striker targets, albeit both more attainable options if a top four spot is secured.

Some deals, not just those coming in, shouldn’t be impacted by where Arsenal finish in the Premier League table. Whether they are a Europa League club or not, Nicolas Pepe needs to be solid in the summer.

Arsenal have a simple Nicolas Pepe transfer decision to make as Gunners prepare contract talks with £72m Ivorian who should be sold

As per Simon Collings of the Evening Standard, talks will be held at the end of the season to determine Pepe’s future – which was pretty clear in any case – with the profile of striker they want to bring in set to further impact his involvement.

Eyeing two forwards in the summer, one of those preferably can also play out on the right wing. In other words, Gabriel Jesus.

Without a Premier League start since October, there is no choice for the club to make other than to sell Pepe – and take a huge financial hit as a result. He will have two years left on his deal at the end of the season, hasn’t come anywhere near living up to his £72m price tag, and has no place in this squad.

The decision couldn’t be simpler. The sale, however, couldn’t be tougher.

While there will be a market for Pepe – any fast counter attacking team would be an environment he’d thrive in – no side will come close to making an offer that won’t constitute anything other than a significant loss on the initial investment.

Realistically, a fee in the region of £20m-£25m is about as much as the Gunners can hope for. It’s not like Pepe isn’t talent, it’s that he’s also hardly kicked a ball over the last two league campaigns. The Ivorian has been restricted to just 21 starts during that period.

Nobody can argue against those numbers either. The 26-year-old isn’t tactically adept, doesn’t vary his movements, and frustrates to no end with bizarre decision making. He’s being kept out of the team by a 20-year-old so superior that he’s been asked to play in all bar two games this season.

In a sense there is a degree of empathy for Pepe, as few players across the world would succeed in usurping Bukayo Saka from the team. It’s rotten luck on his part there is a world class talent in front of him

But this team is evolving and the next chapter, including the current one and a few of the previous ones, has no place for Pepe. Even if he goes on another late season flurry like he did in the 2020/21 campaign that should only be seen as beneficial in the sense of boosting his price tag.

Mikel Arteta has been given the green light to keep him out of the team irrespective of his price tag taking a beating, as the end goal is more important than the value of one individual.

It’s a matter of when, not if. And, sadly, a case of how little for, not how much. Or, even more likely than that, is a loan with an obligation to buy. Arsenal do love those.