Nicolas Pepe has sent a brief message to Arsenal following his departure to Trabzonspor, which has now finally been confirmed.
After a bit of a delay in sorting out all the details, Trabzonspor finally confirmed their agreement for the signature of Nicolas Pepe on Sunday night, before posting an Oppenheimer-inspired announcement video on Monday morning.
🎬 NICOLAS PEPE 🎖️ pic.twitter.com/OgEOP93dlE
— Trabzonspor (@Trabzonspor) September 11, 2023
Arsenal had already confirmed Pepe’s departure previously, as he’d terminated his contract with the Gunners separately to his negotiations with Trabzonspor.
Pepe responded to Arsenal’s announcement of the exit with a two-word message, “Gunners fam”, on Instagram.
Pepe has signed a one-year contract with Trabzonspor to 2024, with an option to extend for a further year.
Trabzonspor’un yeni transferi Nicolas Pepe taraftarlara üçlü çektirdi. pic.twitter.com/ojQnmcjvis
— 61saat (@61saat) September 10, 2023
GFFN report that Pepe was identified as surplus to requirements in the early days of Mikel Arteta’s spell at Arsenal, and that never changed over the following few years. Now he’s leaving the club on a free transfer.
Pepe spent the 2022/23 campaign out on loan with OGC Nice, but an underwhelming and injury-hit campaign didn’t generate the kind of interest Arsenal would have hoped for.
The 28-year-old made 28 appearances for Nice, scoring eight goals, but he only played three times in Ligue 1 from January 16th to the end of the season due to injury.
The first step with his new club will be just to get playing again regularly.