ARSENAL outcast Nicolas Pepe is closing in on a move to Besiktas, according to reports.
The 28-year-old winger has not made a competitive appearance for the Gunners since May 2022.
GettyPepe is set to join Besiktas[/caption]
He fell out of favour at the Emirates Stadium last summer and was subsequently loaned to OGC Nice, where made 28 appearances across all competitions.
Pepe returned to North London earlier this summer, but trained alone while Arsenal officials considered terminating his contract.
The Gunners allegedly prepared to end Pepe’s deal one year early in a bid to get him off the wage bill.
However, Besiktas are now on the verge of signing him in a permanent transfer.
According to L’Equipe, Pepe agreed a deal with the Turkish Super Lig side on Monday morning.
The Ivory Coast international has already completed a medical ahead of his proposed transfer.
TalkSPORT claim that Arsenal are prepared to accept a ‘nominal fee’ in order to facilitate the move.
Pepe joined Arsenal in a then-club-record £72million transfer from Lille in August 2019.
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He has since scored 27 goals and provided 21 assists in 112 first team appearances for the Gunners.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta previously admitted he was underwhelmed with Pepe’s performances for Nice last season.
He said: “He had a spell on loan and obviously we wanted to get much more than we got from that loan spell.”