Arsenal have recently been scouting 25-year-old winger Pepe of FC Porto, according to a report from Portugal.

A Bola claim Arsenal have been watching the development of Pepe this season. But not the Nicolas Pepe in the current squad, nor the ex-Real Madrid 39-year-old in Porto’s defence.

Instead, the Pepe in question is the winger Porto signed last summer.

Pepe Cossa is reportedly starting to make a strong impression with his new club, for whom he’s racked up 11 goal contributions in 40 games (21 starts).

Pepe has a €60m release clause and a contract until June 2026, which could be problematic.

The Mirror suggest English clubs see Pepe’s value at closer to €40m, so activating his clause would be overpaying.

Instead, the Mirror claim a move in the summer of 2023 seems more likely, when the player has had longer to adapt to European football.

It certainly seems like Pepe has been going through an adaptation period this season. 10 of his league starts came in Porto’s last 10 games, before which he had four league starts in 23 matches.

Capable of playing on the left or the right, often on the wings but even dropping back to right-back lately, Pepe’s potential role at Arsenal isn’t entirely clear.

He could be anything from a more attacking alternative to Tomiyasu to a starting left-winger.

That’s if Arsenal even plan to make a move this summer, which doesn’t seem that likely yet.