Ivory Coast striker Pepe leaves Arsenal for Trabzonspor

LONDON : Ivory Coast forward Nicolas Pepe has left Arsenal to join Turkish club Trabzonspor, with the Premier League side saying on Saturday that they had terminated his contract.

Arsenal signed the 28-year-old from Ligue 1 side Lille in 2019 for a then club-record fee of 72 million pounds ($89.74 million), which was broken when they signed West Ham United's England midfielder Declan Rice for 105 million pounds in July.

The Turkish Super League club posted a video on their X account, formerly known as Twitter, showing Pepe on a private jet saying: "I came here to become a champion and achieve success".

"We can confirm that Nicolas Pepe is leaving the club. We have agreed with him to terminate his contract with immediate effect," Arsenal said in a statement.

Pepe scored 27 goals in 112 games for the Gunners and spent last season on loan at French side Nice, where he made 28 appearances and scored eight times last season.

Trabzonspor are seventh in the Turkish Super League.

($1 = 0.8023 pounds)