This week, Arsenal confirmed that Nicolas Pepe will spend the season on loan with OGC Nice but while the Ivorian looks to get back to ‘enjoying football’ there is no option to buy in his deal.

Nicolas Pepe still has two years left on his current Arsenal contract. That means by the time his loan spell is up he will have just 12 months remaining.

It seems unthinkable that Arsenal could lose him for nothing, although it seemed unthinkable they would spend £72m for a player in the first place, so they will have to sell him next summer given they couldn’t sell him this.

Perhaps the club are hoping that a good season on loan will help raise his asking price which has dropped to around £22m, not that he was ever worth £72m at any point. The most Pepe has actually been worth during his career is £67.5m, which is higher than I’m sure many imagined.

Whatever is going on in the minds of the powers-that-be at Arsenal, it does not involve including an option for OGC Nice to buy him, with the Ligue 1 side confirming that in their own announcement.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they can’t buy him. It most likely means they couldn’t agree on a fee at this point, with my guess being the French side were coming in far too low for Arsenal’s taste.

Whatever the future holds, Pepe himself is hoping that he can get back to enjoying playing football.

In his first interview since leaving on loan, Pepe was asked what he would like from his spell with Nice. “To get back to enjoying football,” he replied.

“I only want to think about football. The financial aspect was a secondary concern.”

So what about his time at Arsenal? “There were ups and downs,” Pepe said

“In the first season I managed to win two titles, the FA Cup and the Community Shield, which is no mean feat.

“The following season, we unfortunately failed in the Europa League semi-final against Villareal.

“It was more complicated after that, but I only remember the good things. I was playing in the biggest league in the world.

“You change, you learn a lot, playing against the best teams in the world, you gain experience.

“My time there hardened me mentally. As a player and as a person, I have evolved.

“I played less, but there are some things that made me learn about life, because I had children there.”

With Nice not playing until Sunday, it is highly likely we will see Pepe in the squad for their game against Marseille.

With Aaron Ramsey now also at Nice and Matteo Guendouzi, Alexis Sanchez, Sead Kolasinac and Nuno Tavares all at Marseille, it looks like being quite the Arsenal reunion.