ARSENAL could be forced to hand Nicolas Pepe a £7.5million pay-off just to get him out of the Emirates.
And that would make the club’s former £72million record signing the ninth big name player to have his contract terminated by Mikel Arteta.
Pepe, 29, has been told he has no future at Arsenal after spending last season on loan at Nice.
He has played no part in the club’s pre-season preparations and doesn’t even have a squad number after his number 19 shirt was handed to Leandro Trossard in January.
Turkish title contenders Besiktas are hoping to take the Ivorian international winger off Arsenal’s hands but are not keen on paying a transfer fee.