Pépé, who joined Premier League side Arsenal from Ligue 1 outfit Lille OSC in 2019 for a then-club-record fee of £72m, struggled to impose himself in the English 1st division.

He leaves Arsenal having made 80 appearances, with 16 goals to show for his efforts. Although seen as an important piece for the future by Unai Emery and Raul Sanllehi when the Spanish duo were still at the club as Head Coach and Head of Football respectively, Pépé was identified by Mikel Arteta as being surplus to requirements when the young coach joined from Manchester City.

This was as a result of both his playing style and inconsistent performances.

Pépé spent last season on loan with French 1st division side OGC Nice, making 19 appearances for Les Aiglons and finding the net 6 times.

Sources contacted by Get French Football News understand that Arsenal will receive £3m as a transfer fee from Trabzonspor for a player whose contract was due to expire in June 2024.

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The 23-year-old is under contract with Le SCO until June 2024 and has been the subject of intense interest from Turkish 1st division side Trabzonspor, who have had a multitude of proposals knocked back.

The player himself was not convinced about a move to Turkey, rejecting Trabzonspor formally on Wednesday.

Celta Vigo’s transfer business is being orchestrated by Luís Campos, who is also the Sporting Coordinator at Ligue 1 title holders Paris Saint-Germain.

Celta have poached from the French football market already once this summer, signing 27-year-old Franco-Ivorian winger Jonathan Bamba from Ligue 1 side Lille on a free transfer after his contract with LOSC expired.

Angers have struggled to convince Batista Mendy to remain at the club following their relegation to Ligue 2 last May.

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Levy has been seeking €15m in order to allow Sanchez to leave North London this summer, despite the player having just 12 months remaining on his current contract.

Rennes’ latest bid is worth €9m, which is the highest that they intend to offer.

Rennes’ inability to score Sanchez means that Belgian international defender Arthur Theate will not be able to depart the Brittany side. He had been hoping to complete a move to Serie A outfit Fiorentina.

AS Monaco had also been interested in Sanchez, but are similarly put off by Daniel Levy’s demands and are instead intending to close a deal with Fulham for English defender Tosin Adarabioyo.

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The French club have no desire to lose the player, despite him being out of contract next summer. Rodez hope to covnince the ex-Auxerre and Cercle Brugge prospect to sign a contract extension.

Charlotte’s bid for Raux Yao included an initial loan spell at Swiss outfit Grasshoppers.

It is currently unclear whether or not the player wishes to leave the club and take the package offered to him by Charlotte FC. He has also made an number of appearances at left-back.

Rodez have had a generally quiet summer transfer window and have been unable to spend cash on transferring players in, relying on canny free transfer signings such as the arrival of 24-year-old midfielder Giovanni Haag from AS Nancy and 22-year-old right-back Ahmad Ngouyamsa from Dijon.

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Salah will be involved and playing on Sunday in the Premier League against Aston Villa.

The outlet does not rule out the possibility that Al-Ittihad will continue to make attempts to sign the Liverpool winger beyond today’s European transfer deadline day.

This is because the Saudi Arabian transfer window closes on 20th September, meaning plenty of opportunity for the 1st division side to attempt to entice Liverpool and Salah over the course of the next three weeks.

Al-Ittihad have not been put off by Liverpool’s current total refusal to negotiate a possible departure of their star man and intend to continue to make efforts to sign the player.

Al-Ittihad boast French duo Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté in their ranks.

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Desler, who was also the subject of interest from fellow Ligue 1 side Rennes earlier on in the window, is now the subject of a late window charge from Augsburg, whose bid of €2m was inclusive of bonuses.

Toulouse have rejected the bid and do not intend to sell a player that they brought in back in summer 2021.

Les Violets do not intend to lose any additional 1st team players before tomorrow’s deadline as they need a squad that is big enough to compete in Ligue 1 and the Europa League this season. Desler was an important architect in the club’s Coupe de France title win last season which enabled them to qualify for continental football in the first place.

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The player told OL on Thursday evening that he would not be joining the club for personal reasons. Rodriguez has 12 months remaining on his current deal with Real Betis and has had a 4-year provisional contract agreement in place with Lyon for several weeks.

OL’s most recent bid for the player was €15m including bonuses, with Rodriguez having already spoken with Lyon manager Laurent Blanc.

Following the off-pitch instability around the club in recent hours owing to a civil war between ex-Lyon President Aulas and American owner John Textor, Rodriguez has decided not to join for personal reasons.

AC Milan’s 29-year-old Bosnian midfielder Rade Krunic, who was another target for Lyon in the #6 position, is also not going to join Lyon as the Italian side’s manager, Stefano Pioli, wishes to retain the player.

OL’s recruitment department has approached 28-year-old Rennes midfielder Baptiste Santamaria as they continue to seek to find a number 6 before tomorrow’s deadline.

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Deschamps was speaking following the announcement of his France squad for the September international break to face Ireland in a EURO 2024 qualifying match and Germany in a friendly.

“It would be quite a good thing for us if that happened, to have players who are playing in the same team, it ensures that playing together becomes second nature. It would be something that would certainly not hurt the chances of the French national team, even if, on our side, it is not a criteria (for whether or not a player is picked).”

If Kolo Muani completed a move to PSG, he would join fellow French international attackers Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé in the French capital.

When asked whether or not he approved of Kolo Muani’s decision to go on strike at Frankfurt, skipping training earlier this week, in an attempt to facilitate a move to PSG, Deschamps replied:

“Nothing shocks me nor disturbs me. These are situations that can happen, that can repeat. I know Kolo well, he is a very respectful person, I do not have all of the information to be able to judge the situation. This is the final week before the deadline tomorrow night, there can be excessive situations to “put pressure” on one or another. What I know is that when the 23 guys join us in Clairefontaine on Monday, the club that they belong to does not change. They will be sorted.”

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“Listen, it will be difficult. But not just difficult for us, difficult for them also. For sure, it is difficult. But what do we want, what do we love? Competition. This is the best competition in the world. The players, the coach, they love to play the big matches. I always take the positive. We must now be obligated, the staff, the players, the fans, to be ready for this group. This means that we have to work harder, give everything. I feel in the last three matches that we have played, we are really on the right track. The style of play, the coach… I am sure that we will improve. The players will improve, physically and technically. We are an ambitious club, we will work, byt for me it is about taking it match by match, step by step.”

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“There are just 24 hours left. Kylian is a PSG player. We are having very good discussions with him, he is a magnificent player, person and professional. We have discussed with the rest of his family… an extension? I do not want to talk about that.”

On the rest of the window:

“There are only 24 hours left in the window. We are working, trying to do something. If we can, why not. If we can’t, we are ready, we are good.”

Paris Saint-Germain are understood to have concluded an agreement with Lyon to sign French youth international winger Bradley Barcola and tonight will continue negotiations with Eintracht Frankfurt to broker a Hugo Ekitike – Randal Kolo Muani swap deal.

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