Nicolas Pepe cannot terminate his contract with Arsenal and will have to explore other options to join Besiktas according to Fanatik journalist Gökmen Özcan.

The 28-year-old winger is not in Mikel Arteta’s plans for the upcoming season and has been linked with a move to the Turkish club.

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It had been reported that Pepe was in talks with Arsenal over terminating the final year of his contract, but Ozcan has said that the forward is unable to do so.

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Instead, Besiktas are said to be interested in a loan move with a buy-out clause. This would be a similar deal to the one they agreed with Brentford for goalkeeper David Raya.

However, Arsenal would have to extend Pepe’s contract to make this viable as he only has 12 months left on his contract.

He will now have to find another way to leave Arsenal if he wants to join Besiktas. A loan move with a buy-out clause would be the most likely option.

Unless Besiktas and Arsenal were to agree on a transfer fee.

Pepe joined Arsenal from Lille in 2019 for a club-record fee of £72m, but he has struggled to live up to expectations. He has scored just 16 goals in 80 appearances for the Gunners.