Arsenal work on Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles exits as Pepe heads off for medical

Alex Young @alexwsyoung25 August 2022

Arsenal are working on finding new clubs for Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin before the transfer window closes.

Bellerin’s preferred destination remains Real Betis, were he spent last season on loan, but there is still no agreement between them and Arsenal.

Maitland-Niles has been offered to a number of Premier League clubs, with Bournemouth and Southampton expressing the firmest interest.

The midfielder is into the final 12 months of his current contract at Arsenal, but the club have the option to extend it by a further year.

That has raised the possibility that Maitland-Niles could go on loan this summer and look to secure a permanent move next year.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Pepe was on Thursday travelling to Nice to undergo his medical and finalise a loan move to the French club.

Pepe is hoping the move will be wrapped up in the next 48 hours and he can make his Nice debut on Sunday, when they face Marseille.

The winger, who cost Arsenal a club-record fee of £72million in 2019, will join Nice on a straight loan for the season, with no option to buy him next summer.

Arsenal have been looking to move Pepe on during the current transfer window, but there were a lack of suitors willing to take him on a permanent deal.

The Ivorian is now set to join Nice on loan and he will have just one year left on his Arsenal contract next summer, when the Gunners will have to cash in on him.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in