Nicolas Pepe was one of the standout performers for Arsenal in their 5-1 Carabao Cup victory over Sunderland on Tuesday evening.
The Gunners cruised past the League One club in the quarter-finals of the competition to put themselves in Wednesday's draw for the last four.
A hat-trick from Eddie Nketiah, one from Pepe and a late goal for debutant Charlie Patino earned the victory for Arsenal on an impressive night for Mikel Arteta's men.
It was a crucial evening for Pepe, who has been out of the side for the majority of the season so far, but the Ivorian winger took his chance against Sunderland.
Before the match, former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson claimed that the Gunners would definitely offload the Ivory Coast international next month if there was a willing buyer.
Merson, when speaking to Sky Sports, said: "I would say if they can sell him in January they will in my opinion. I think he will move on if he could. He has just not been consistent enough in my opinion.
"The ones in front of him have been consistent. This lad can be an eight out ten or four out of ten the next week. As a manager you want seven out ten every week. You’ll settle for that it’s better being nine one week and four the other."
football.london reported earlier this month that Pepe will assess his options over the January transfer window after being left out of the team for large parts of the campaign so far.
Towards the end of last season, Pepe told French news outlet Canal + about his frustration at not being a first-choice pick under Arteta.
He said: "My aim is to play more, to have more game time. A player who plays is a happy player. For me, I want to rediscover my smile.
"Mikel Arteta wants me to be 100% focused for the 90 minutes of the game. Then I see during training that I will be a substitute the following weekend.
“It’s frustrating for any player to be on the bench. The role of a super sub? The coach makes his choices. It’s up to me to show him so that I don’t have this role.”
