Arsenal agree club record fee for Lille's Nicolas Pepe

The Ivory Coast international has been on the radar of some of the top clubs in Europe,

Arsenal have emerged out of the shadows and acted quickly in the market within the space of the last week to complete some important signings. Dani Ceballos was signed on a loan move from Real Madrid and young, talented French defender William Saliba was signed from Saint Etienne but loaned back to his old club.

In the midst of it all, Arsenal turned their eyes towards Nicolas Pepe and are just a few formalities away from closing the deal, Sky Sports reports. Apparently, Arsenal’s 72-million-pound offer has been accepted by Lille and now the club is agreeing terms with the player.

Pepe burst on to the scene with Lille last season and was one of the standout performers last season. This attracted the interest of several European clubs including Napoli, Manchester United and Liverpool, but Arsenal are now believed to have won the race for him. The Ivory Coast international scored 22 goals and contributed to 11 assists last season.

Carlo Ancelotti wanted Nicolas Pepe desperately and the Italian club offered him 3.6-million-pounds per year but Arsenal have offered him a fatter paycheck.

Lille President Lopez spoke to Sky Sports News. "We've had interest from three UK clubs along with clubs from Spain and a number in Italy.

"We do have relationships with a good few of those clubs where we feel the player would be best suited and we offer our advice, however we can't do anything if the player doesn't want to go, so it's now the player's decision."

Arsenal had their eyes set on Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha for much of the window but Lille was willing to accept Arsenal’s lower free upfront followed by the rest of the payment in installments. This rules out Arsenal moving in for Zaha anymore and that could clear the path for the winger to move to Everton who want to secure his services.

The signing of Nicolas Pepe would make him the most expensive transfer in the North London club’s history eclipsing the 60-million-pounds Arsenal paid for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January 2018. 

Pepe will return from his holidays on Monday and I think that he will make his mind up halfway through the week," Lopez added. "We asked him to stay last year and promised him we would have let him go during this transfer window."