According to the latest reports from Football. London, LOSC Lille are valuing their prized winger Nicolas Pepe between €50m and €80m. Lille’s owner Gerard Lopez quoted the amount, and he made it clear that the Ivory Coast international isn’t going to come in cheap in the summer. Arsenal have long been linked with him, and it remains to be seen whether the Gunners would be willing to shell out such an amount.
The Lille manager Christophe Galtier has also made it clear the Pepe would only depart to a club who can offer him Champions League football. The manager said, ”He has to go to a Champions League club. In my opinion, an intermediate step is not necessary [for him] to go as high as possible. I see him as good with a team that plays all in red and likes to put wingers on the side of their weaker feet.”
Therefore Arsenal can forget signing the winger if they fail to make it to the Champions League. The race for the top 4 is heating up, and it can go either way at the moment as Arsenal sit on the fifth spot, one point behind Manchester United. The two sides are going to square up against each other tomorrow, and the winner can take a big step towards securing the last Champions League spot.
Another way through which Arsenal can get into the Champions League is by winning the Europa League. Unai Emery is known as a master of that tournament as he won the title thrice in a row with Sevilla. However, the North London club have their task cut out after the first leg against Rennes as they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat.
Pepe has managed a whopping 17 goals and ten assists in 27 Ligue 1 appearances this season and one can understand why the French side is valuing him so highly. Only Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani have more goals to their name this season, and the 23-year-old right winger is one of the hottest prospects in world football right now.
His pace, athleticism and to go with that his ability to consistently deliver the goods in the final third make him an exciting talent and Arsenal are going to have their task cut out if they want to add a winger to their repertoire.
The Gunners have just Alex Iwobi as an outright winger and Pepe would be a top class addition for them. However, getting into the Champions League and the reported price tag is going to be a major obstacle for Emery.
