Sky Sports Expert Claims Arsenal Have Made Approach Over Deal To Sign £43m Attacker

The transfer window is closed but managers are planning ahead for January and next summer so we’ll bring you all the latest gossip. Today, Guillem Balague claims Arsenal have made a move to sign Nicolas Pepe….

Guillem Balague claims Arsenal have approached Lille over a potential deal to sign £43m-rated star Nicolas Pepe as Unai Emery looks to strengthen his attack this winter.

The boss is reportedly looking to bring in another versatile attacker in January after losing Danny Welbeck to a broken ankle that will keep him on the sidelines for the majority of the season and Pepe has been put forward as a prime candidate in recently.

Football London reported earlier this week that Sven Mislintat has been drawn-up a list of potential targets ahead of the summer window but Arsenal are expected to bring forward their transfer plans following Welbeck’s injury and Pepe has been closely monitored.

The Ivory Coast international has been in excellent form since joining Lille in 2017 and he’s already provided 8 goals and 7 assists in his 13 Ligue 1 appearances so far this season so he’d certainly be an exciting prospect.

It seems we’ve now stepped-up our interest in the winger as Balague – who works as a football expert for Sky Sports and the BBC among others – has claimed that Arsenal have now approached Lille over the 23-year-old’s availability but were told any potential deal will cost around £43m [€50m].

You can see Balague discussing Arsenal’s interest in Pepe from around 15 minutes on his video below, but here are a few snippets of what he says:

“Arsenal are looking into the possibility of signing him [Pepe]. Yes, they’ve approached Lille. He cost about €15m (£13m) when he came from Angers, right now Lille will be asking for €50m (£43m).

“I’m not sure he is that value yet but certainly he is on the way up. He’s a top, top player that I’m convinced he will come to the Premier League and he will score as well.

“Keep an eye on him, he will end up in the Premier League I’m sure.”

With Welbeck unlikely to play again this season and his contract up in June, Arsenal desperately need to strengthen our options in attack as we’re now going to be overly reliant on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette up front while we have a real lack of width in the squad right now.

Pepe has predominantly been playing as a right winger at Lille but he’s capable of playing anywhere across the forward positions, including up front, so he’d be an excellent addition to the squad if we could lure him to north London.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming months but I personally don’t see Arsenal paying £43m for Pepe’s signature so Lille may have to lower their demands if a deal is to be agreed this winter.