Nicolas Pepe joined Trabzonspor from Arsenal earlier this month (Picture: Getty)
Mikel Arteta insists the decision to terminate Nicolas Pepe’s Arsenal contract benefited all parties.
The Gunners one-time record signing quickly fell down his manager’s pecking order as a consequence of Bukayo Saka’s meteoric rise and spent last season on loan at Nice.
Arsenal had hoped to command a transfer fee for the Ivory Coast international during the transfer window but were ultimately forced to take the same course of action they did with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Sead Koklasinac, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Having reached an agreement with the north London club, Pepe joined Trabzonspor earlier this month and will look to relaunch his career in Tukrey.
‘Every case has been very different and and in the end, it is a few parties who have to agree to something,’ said Arteta when asked about the nature of Pepe’s departure. ‘It is not a decision that I take alone.’
Arsenal broke their transfer record again this summer following the £105million signing of Declan Rice but Arteta insists he didn’t think twice about investing so heavily on one individual, despite the way in which Pepe’s Premier League career panned out.
‘I wasn’t involved in the process of that deal,’ said Arteta. ‘What I can say about him as a person is that he’s a phenomenal boy. He tried really hard.
Arsenal spent £72million to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille four years ago (Picture: Getty)
‘It is not his fault the amount of money that we paid at the time and that’s it. When things are not working on, you have to move on.
‘There’s no point trying when something is not working and that decision has been made and I think it benefits all parties.’
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Arteta added: ‘Obviously, these are sad moments for players. Not only for him but also with Rob [Holding] leaving and all of our players who have left and those who have gone on loan as well.
‘You have an emotional attachment with them. You have tried to get the best out of them. But there are periods and sometimes, it’s not about the will of the player and instead, it’s a player that plays in his position that does so well.
‘There are many factors. But we certainly want to wish all of them the best and hopefully they can fulfil the dream somewhere else.’
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