Pepe joined the Gunners for a then-club-record fee of £72million four years ago but the Ivory Coast international failed to live up to his price tag, struggling for consistency in the Premier League. Eventually, he fell out of favour in north London before being sent on loan last season to Ligue 1 side Nice.
The 28-year-old missed the final part of the campaign through injury, which Arteta has claimed is the reason he isn't on tour with the rest of his teammates. "At the moment he’s recovering from an injury", the Spaniard replied when asked about Pepe's future.
"That’s why he’s not here. He had a spell on loan and we wanted to get more from that loan spell. We’ll have to see when he comes back.
"Have a chat with him. Understand what he plans are and make a decision."
Pepe is no longer a part of Arteta's plans after falling down the pecking order in the squad towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign. Arsenal are keen to receive a fee for him, but football.london understands plans have been made for the termination of his contract if required.Arteta has already recruited three players during the summer transfer window, spending in excess of £200million to sign Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice. But the Gunners manager has admitted that he could dip into the market again before it slams shut.
When asked if Arsenal could make any more signings this summer, he said: "I don’t know. There will be movement still. There will be a lot of ins and outs.
"It’s still very early. Obviously the last week has been a bit quiet. If we can try and improve the team we’ll do so. But we don’t want to get any weaker so we have to be sure of that as well."
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