Besiktas are close to finalising a deal for Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe, 90min understands, with the transfer window in Turkey remaining open until 15 September.
The 28-year-old, still Arsenal's record signing at £72m until Declan Rice joined the club in July, has long accepted that his future lies away from the Emirates Stadium. Now, things are aligning for him to seal a transfer, with one year left on his Gunners contract.
Having made his name during a couple of prolific seasons with Lille, Pepe spent last season on loan back in France with Nice. A return to the Arsenal squad was never an option with manager Mikel Arteta recently confirming that he would be allowed to move on.
"We are still looking for solutions," Arteta said last week. "There is a lot of communication between his agent and the player and the club at the moment but there is nothing else to announce at the moment."
READ THE LATEST NEWS FROM 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS TEAM
90min can now reveal that Pepe is set to join Besiktas. The Istanbul side will pay a nominal fee to Arsenal for the Ivory Coast international. It is also understood that Pepe will be taking a significant wage drop to move to the Turkey's Super Lig.
Pepe, who joined Arsenal in 2019, is still one of club's highest paid players on around £250,000 per week. That is one of the reasons the Gunners have been anxious to move him on.
It is understood a number of Saudi Pro League clubs had shown an interest, although the player himself was keen to remain in Europe and is now heading for Turkey.
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss the deals that did and didn't happen on deadline day. They talk over Ryan Gravenberch's move to Liverpool, why Joao Palhinha didn't join Bayern Munich, Sofyan Amrabat's loan to Man Utd and more.
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
This article was originally published on 90min as Nicolas Pepe close to leaving Arsenal on permanent transfer.
