One of the strangest stories to have emerged since the transfer window closed on Friday is the potential exit from Arsenal of Nicolas Pépé.
The forward has been trying to find a way out of the Emirates all summer, to no avail, but with the Saudi and Turkish markets still open, there is still a chance something materialises.
And, according to CNN Turk, a failure to go to the Middle-East would immediately lead the Ivory Coast international to head to Besiktas.
Before we get into that, however, let’s quickly go over what has happened over the past few days regarding the Arsenal flop.
It was first reported in France that the winger was undergoing a medical in Paris ahead of a move to Besiktas, only for the Turkish side, speaking directly to journalists, ruling that out by saying they weren’t interested.
This was accompanied by suggestions the idea of a move to the Süper Lig side from Arsenal was entirely driven by the player’s agent.
L’Equipe then seemingly backtracked a bit by stating the transfer was stalling for now, and the clubs needed to go over a previous agreement again.
Well, the latest from Turkey, taking us back to CNN Turk, explains that while Arsenal are hoping to get £4m from a sale to Al-Shabab, that isn’t guaranteed.
Since the Saudi transfer window closes on Thursday, the outlet state that ‘if the expected offer for the player does not come, Pépé will come to Istanbul on Friday’.
Despite the Gunners wanting a fee, it’s added that Besiktas ‘want to add him to their squad for free’, meaning the only logical way for that to happen would be for Arsenal to terminate his contract.
This appears to be the last port of call for the Premier League side, and one they would seemingly rather not have to do.
Then again, if needs must…
