Nicolas Pepe was easily one of the best players in the Ligue 1 last season and it looks like the Premier League could be his next destination.
Nicolas Pepe joined Lille from Angers in the summer of 2017 for a transfer fee of around €10 million and last season he bagged 23 goals and 12 assists in just 41 games across all competitions.
A number of top European clubs have been linked with the Ivorian international ever since the start of the summer but Lille president Gérard Lopez had made it clear that Nicolas Pepe will likely be moving out of the club only after the Africa Cup of Nations.
“We don’t overestimate anything. We know what the offers are,” Lopez told L’Equipe, via MEN.
“I also wanted to close this situation before AFCON. At the request of his entourage, we have waited for a bit. And Nico told us that he wanted to concentrate on AFCON.
“He also wants to have discussions with the managers [interested in signing him]. I am not worried. We will look at the facts.
“His entourage has a preferred destination… Discussions are happening with prestigious clubs where he could be happy.
“Aside from that, everyone has the right to have preferences.”
UPDATE:
Now that Ivory Coast’s participation in the AFCON is done, Liverpool have wasted no time in making contact with the representatives of Nicolas Pepe.
Get French Football News have quoted that L’Équipe Liverpool are amongst the three clubs who have made an official bid for the winger.
GFFN wrote on Twitter: “L’Équipe confirm tonight that Lille have received firm bids from Liverpool, Arsenal & Inter Milan for Nicolas Pépé. More tomorrow.”
While the player is without a doubt one of the finest talents in Europe right now but given that Mo Salah operates in the same position as Nicolas Pepe we do not see why Jurgen Klopp would want to spend so much of money on the 24-year-old.
But some experts though claim that Klopp is trying to bring in the forward not as a replacement for Mo Salah but as a replacement for the faltering Roberto Firmino.
