Arsenal
[Photos] Nicolas Pepe poses in Arsenal shirt after completing record £72m move
Winger Nicolas Pepe has been posing in his new Arsenal shirt after completing a club record £72m move from Lille this evening.
We’re now at the business end of the summer transfer window and managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the world. Here, Arsenal have signed Nicolas Pepe…
Nicolas Pepe has been posing in his new Arsenal shirt after completing a club record £72m move from Lille this evening.
The club have been working hard trying to sign a top class winger all summer after Unai Emery identified the need to add some width to his squad and Pepe emerged as our primary target earlier this week.
The BBC were one of several media outlets who claimed Arsenal had reached an agreement with Lille to sign the Ivory Coast international in a £72m deal with Pepe agreeing terms over a five-year contract.
The 24-year-old arrived in London on Tuesday to undergo his medical and finalise his move and Arsenal finally announced Pepe as our new club record signing on Arsenal.com late this afternoon.
We beat off competition from a number of European clubs and Emery has expressed his delight at signing Pepe with the boss confident he will add pace, power and goals to the Arsenal attack this season.
The boss told Arsenal.com:
“Nicolas is a highly-rated and talented winger who was wanted by many of the top teams in Europe.
“Signing a top-class winger has been one of our key objectives in this transfer window and I’m delighted he’s joining.
“He will add pace, power and creativity, with the aim of bringing more goals to our team.”
Arsenal have confirmed Pepe will wear the No.19 shirt this season and he’ll give Emery plenty of options in attack as although he’s predominantly a right winger he can play anywhere across the front three.
Pepe contributed 22 goals and 12 assists in all competitions for Lille last season so he’ll certainly add another goal threat to our squad and I can’t wait to see him line-up alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
READ –> Arsenal transfer news
The Ivorian becomes Arsenal’s fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Gabriel Martinelli, Dani Ceballos and William Saliba but Emery is reportedly still in the market for Kieran Tierney and a centre-back so it could still be a busy final week of the window.
Here are more photos of Pepe following his move to Arsenal:
