Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe raps with sunglasses on and pulls pranks with pals on lockdown after agreeing to pay cut

Posted Wednesday, April 22, 2020 by Thesun.co.uk

ARSENAL star Nicolas Pepe rapped while wearing sunglasses and pulled pranks on his pals to keep himself entertained while on lockdown.

The Ivorian ace, 24, stayed busy with a day of working out, making music and playing jokes on his friends.

Nicolas Pepe rapped in sunglasses as part of a bizarre Instagram story

Pepe slapped his sleeping pal in the face with a handful of what looked like flour

Pepe - a £72m signing from Lille last summer - shared his antics on Instagram.

In a series of short clips, the Gunners winger can be seen hitting his home gym, before donning some shades to make a little music.

At the very end of his long Instagram story, Pepe can be seen hurling what appears to be a monster pile of flour into his friend's face from close range while he slept.

Pepe's social media post came shortly after it was announced he would join his Arsenal team-mates in agreeing to a 12.5 per cent pay cut.

The North London club have been keen to reach an agreement with their players and staff to cover losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

'VOLUNTARY CUT'

An Arsenal statement read: "We are pleased to announce that we have reached a voluntary agreement with our first-team players, head coach and core coaching staff to help support the club at this critical time.

"The move follows positive and constructive discussions.

"In these conversations there has been a clear appreciation of the gravity of the current situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a strong desire for players and staff to show their backing for the Arsenal family.

"Reductions of total annual earnings by 12.5 per cent will come into effect this month, with the contractual paperwork being completed in the coming days."

Arsenal confirmed there is a plan in place to pay back the players and staff at the club if specific targets are met.

It has been reported that as part of the deal the players will receive £500,000 each if they win the Champions League in 2021.

The club's dressing room was allegedly split over whether to accept a pay cut, with 25 out of 27 first-team players willing to hand over a chunk of their wages.

Mesut Ozil was one to reject the pay cut on his £350,000-a-week pay packet - with Gary Neville and Piers Morgan tearing into the former Real Madrid playmaker.