Gunners winger completes Turkish switch

Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe has ended his stay at the Emirates Stadium by opting to move to Turkish Super Lig club Trabzonspor on a free transfer. Pepe was Arsenal’s then record signing when they bought him from Lille in the summer of 2019 for a whopping £72m fee, and still had one year to go on his current deal at the club

The Ivorian star made 42 appearances across all competitions for the Gunners in 2019/20, followed by 47 in the 2020/21 season. He was however restricted to only 23 appearances in the 21/22 campaign and was loaned out to Ligue 1 outfit Nice last season.

Pepe’s loan deal at Nice however didn’t have an option to buy and he left the club after scoring eight goals in 28 appearances for the coastal outfit.

Trabzonspor finished 6th in Turkey last season, meaning that they will not be featuring in any of Europe’s continental competitions in 23/24.

The club have won 2 and lost 2 in the current Super Lig campaign- the wins came against Antalyaspor and Kasimpasa, while the defeats were against Rizespor and defending champions Galatsaray. They will play Besiktas in their first game after the September international break.