Arsenal braced for brutal £70m transfer blow amid youngster’s imminent exit

Pity us, the poor and downtrodden football journalists of the world, who are condemned to write transfer rumour columns after the transfer deadline has passed. By the time you read this, even the Saudi Pro League will have shut up shop for the autumn, and yet somehow I must struggle on and unearth some tempting morsels of football goodness for you to feast upon. Thankfully, the Turkish Super Lig is still open for business.

And one of their top targets is Arsenal’s £72m flop Nicolas Pépé, whose time at the Emirates can safely and uncontroversially be described as disappointing. Apparently one or two of the Saudi sides were interested but the Ivorian forward prefers a move to Turkey.

Beşiktaş had been seen as a plausible destination by the world’s rumourmongers, but their spiritual leader, Fabrizio Romano, has tweeted (X’d?) that he’s prioritising a move to Trabzonspor. Arsenal, it would seem, don’t particularly care where he goes so long as he gets gone - and they’re set to make a massive loss on his whopping transfer fee, with the player set to leave for as little as £2m.

The 3AM Verdict: One of the least successful transfer deals in Premier League history is finally being consigned to life as a cautionary tale for aspiring directors of football everywhere. There was no way to recoup even a fraction of the losses on this one, so it’s just time to get the unfortunate Pépé off the books and find him a new chapter. Trabzonspor seems as good a place as any.

Young Gunner heading home

Speaking of projects that failed to bear fruit at the Emirates, 19-year-old Mexico international Marcelo Flores is putting the finishing touches to a deal to play for Tigres in La Liga MX following a disappointing loan spell at Real Oviedo in the Spanish second tier last season.

Sport Witness are unsure as to whether the deal is permanent or on loan just yet, but do suggest that it could be just “a matter of hours” until it’s all signed and sorted, and also report some rather harsh words from an ESPN journalist who decides to stick the boot into Flores by calling him “overrated”. A bit unnecessary, given that he’s barely out of childhood, but still...

The 3AM Verdict: Flores was called up to the Mexico squad too young, given too much hype, and has struggled to live up to it, failing to make a single appearance for the Arsenal first team, which is honestly a bit of a shame all round. Hopefully, like Pépé, he could turn over a new leaf in a new league.

Mary’s future Earp in the air

Despite rejecting a late and record-breaking bid from Arsenal for Mary Earps – arguably the best goalkeeper in the women’s game right now and one of the stars of the Lionesses side – Manchester United are preparing for life without their number one as Earps has just one year left on her contract with the WSL side.

The Mirror report that United have identified West Ham United’s Australian international stopper Mackenzie Arnold as their preferred replacement after her penalty-saving heroics made her one of the stars of the Matildas’ march to the World Cup semi-finals this summer.

The 3AM Verdict: Manchester United have already lost Alessia Russo and Lauren James to WSL rivals in recent years because they won’t match the kind of contracts that the other members of the ‘Big Four’ are prepared to dish out – and Earps would be another star player out of the door. It begs the question as to what the point was in investing enough to build a women’s team that could almost compete, only to leave them just short of the other big sides in the game. Either way, Earps would be a huge pick-up for Arsenal, but at least in Arnold there would be an experienced and highly capable replacement on the way.