Two Saudi clubs now fighting over Arsenal player – One named, both ‘trying to convince’ him to sign

On Wednesday, a surprising claim emerged from France that an unnamed Saudi club was keen on signing Nicolas Pépé from Arsenal.

The forward has been out of Mikel Arteta’s plans for a while now, and his rather disappointing loan at OGC Nice last season didn’t help his case.

He returned to Arsenal to sort out his future, and it appears he suddenly has more than one club to choose from, according to L’Equipe.

The French newspaper, on Wednesday evening, backed up RMC Sport’s initial claim about interest from Saudi Arabia, but claim there are actually two clubs from their fighting over the Ivory Coast international.

They even name one, Al-Fateh, before stating that ‘two Saudi clubs have concretely positioned themselves’ for the 28-year-old.

They are both ‘trying to convince’ him of swapping London for the Middle-East, and will be attempting to find a price with Arsenal to buy out the final year of his contract.

So far, only Besiktas had made a move this summer, but Pépé had decided to turn that down, with it believed to be a three-year contract that would have needed the Gunners to terminate his contract early.