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Nicolas Pepe: Arsenal agree £72m deal for Lille winger

By David OrnsteinBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section Arsenalcomments762

Nicolas Pepe
Pepe scored 23 goals in 41 games for Lille last season

Arsenal have reached an agreement with French club Lille to sign Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe in a deal worth 80m euros (£72m).

The Gunners will pay for the 24-year-old via a series of instalments that suit their restricted budget for this summer.

An agreement between Arsenal and Pepe's representatives still needs to be finalised.

But the transfer is expected to be completed in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Italian side Napoli also met Lille's asking price, but their proposal was rejected by the player's camp.

Pepe tends to operate on the right wing and cut in on to his left foot, but can also be used as a striker in a 4-4-2 formation.

He scored 23 goals for Lille last season and satisfies Arsenal's need for a wide player with pace and high technical ability.

Arsenal offered £40m for Crystal Palace's Ivory Coast winger Wilfried Zaha earlier this month, but their Premier League rivals value the player at about £80m.

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762 comments

  • Comment posted by Waldor, at 14:44 27 Jul 2019

    "I've ripped up my season ticket in disgust."

    No you haven't.

  • Comment posted by BmanAFC, at 14:33 27 Jul 2019

    I think Arsenal's front line will cause opposition defenders to have nightmares but their defence will give opposition attackers wet dreams

  • Comment posted by gooner chris, at 14:24 27 Jul 2019

    Let's just outscore all opponents. Defending is overrated anyway :-)

  • Comment posted by pp73662, at 16:22 27 Jul 2019

    With every passing transfer I’m more and more convinced that football is just a massive money laundering process hidden in plain sight!

  • Comment posted by lvred, at 14:29 27 Jul 2019

    Well, that one slipped in under the radar - now just a decent CB to give us cover at the back..... Good to see from the gossip column that Madrid are doing their customary unsettling of a player under contract at another club with their "confident of signing Pogba" line. If UEFA had any spine, they'd put an end to this continuous tapping up by RM, but I think we all know that's unlikely.

  • Comment posted by U16692473, at 14:36 27 Jul 2019

    Great news for the PL. He is a class act. Klopp was interested but too much money for us this year after the big spend last summer. Not saying that guarantees success but Klopp is a pretty good judge of a young attacking player. Pleased for Arsenal fans after a couple of tough years. Proper club unlike the plastics at City and Chelsea.

  • Comment posted by a n other, at 14:22 27 Jul 2019

    Not a gooner but a decent signing in today’s market if they can pull that off

  • Comment posted by Jumparound, at 14:26 27 Jul 2019

    Interesting. £72m for a guy who hasn't done it in the prem, but won't offer more than £40m for Zaha...
    Don't get me wrong Pepe has a good record, just seems odd!

  • Comment posted by LuThe, at 15:14 27 Jul 2019

    If only someone could lend BBC a tenner to fix HYS.

    5 times trying to post a message. The wheel spins and spins...then it disappears with an error page pop up.

    Surely, over the course of a year, and years to come, HYS generates more user interaction and hours spent on BBC than one-off minority sports?

    So why not spend a few quid so it doesn't fall over and respond so poorly so often?

  • Comment posted by fair1, at 17:38 27 Jul 2019

    Can I say what a joy it is the Spanish FA have stood up to La Liga & insisted games not played on Friday & Monday nights, shame the English don't stand up to SKY & in fact do the opposite & bend over backwards to appease them whilst the "true" fans of ALL clubs are constantly scr*wed on kick off times, whilst trying to earn a living to pay for the pricy tickets and travel!

  • Comment posted by BmanAFC, at 14:37 27 Jul 2019

    @29 You do know that most deals in football usually involve payments made in instalments right or you just clutching at straws for something to complain about?

  • Comment posted by tv, at 14:23 27 Jul 2019

    Buy now, pay tomorrow. I think this deal makes a lot sense for Arsenal

  • Comment posted by mobilemole, at 16:30 27 Jul 2019

    this is all very well, but why does my club have an aversion to signing quality defenders

  • Comment posted by Davy G, at 16:21 27 Jul 2019

    An excellent piece of business from Arsenal, lets see what materialises re their defence.

  • Comment posted by U17759946, at 23:18 27 Jul 2019

    Until Spurs actually win something meaningful, their fans haven't got a leg to stand on when slating Arsenal. The comments are hilarious to read!

  • Comment posted by JordanHendo, at 16:30 27 Jul 2019

    As a Liverpool fan I am jealous. We were linked with this guy (conflicting reports) and he is really good. 2nd best player in league 1 after Mbappe so he is really good. He would have been great cover for Salah/Mane but I guess Arsenal fans can enjoy him instead.

  • Comment posted by Frings, at 08:51 28 Jul 2019

    Irons. I have little time for Liverpool fans (and I'm in no doubt the feeling is mutual) but The Sun is a despicable rag.

  • Comment posted by timeforchange, at 14:31 27 Jul 2019

    Re 15. Champions in 2006?!!! I was at the final and I could have sworn we lost. Need to get to the doctors and get myself tested. Maybe you turned off the telly with 8 minutes to go when we were still one up :-)

  • Comment posted by Pete_B, at 17:53 27 Jul 2019

    @239
    Tottenham have probably their strongest team they’ve had for 30 years and still won nothing. Arsenal had our weakest team for 30 years and finished 1 point behind you.

  • Comment posted by Pete_B, at 11:43 28 Jul 2019

    700.
    A voice of reason, I hate the people on here spouting about the hillsborough disaster when most of them weren’t even born when it happened. As an Arsenal fan I remember it very well and I was really shocked to see it happen on tv at the time, and have the upmost sympathy for everyone affected. Unfortunately HYS attracts small pathetic individuals who are brave here when posting anonymously.

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