Arsenal seem to have beaten Liverpool and Napoli to the race of signing Nicolas Pepe from Lille – as per the BBC.
Earlier this week there were reports that the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Napoli had all agreed on a deal in principle to sign the winger and it is now up to the player to decide which club he will join.
Sport Witness had reported: “CalcioNapoli24, who are very good on their local club, are covering the potential transfer.
“They point out that La Voix du Nord, local to Lille, are reporting Napoli are one of a number of clubs to have reached an agreement with the French side.
“They further go on to say they’ve verified the information and found out Napoli, Liverpool and two other unnamed clubs all have an ‘agreement in principle’ to sign the player.
“Now it’s a matter of Pepe and his agents choosing the next destination, and it looks like money is going to play a big part.
“CalcioNapoli24 say the commission offered to the player’s agents will be ‘decisive’ in the potential transfer.”
And on Saturday, BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein had claimed on Twitter that Arsenal are the club which have seemingly won the race by agreeing on a deal to sign Nicolas Pepe.
He wrote on Twitter: “Arsenal have reached an agreement with Lille to sign Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe for ~€80m, paid by instalments to fit #AFC budget.
“5yr deal, agent agreement still needed but set to be closed in next 24/48hrs. Napoli also have agreement with #LOSC but agent rejected proposal”
But if this confirmation was not enough then BBC have now also published a story which backs the claim hinting at the fact that Liverpool, as well as Napoli, have missed on a very talented player.
BBC are reporting: “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.”
UPDATE:
Reports from Spain are now suggesting that the transfer fee agreed between the two clubs for the transfer of Nicolas Pepe is lower than what had been initially claimed(£72m).
According to El Confidencial journalist Kike Marin, Arsenal are very much the favourites to sign Nicolas Pepe from Lille but the fee is expected to be lower.
But according to Italian journalist Ciro Venerato, the Gunners are actually paying a total of £81 million for the services of the winger which also includes around £9 million in the form of add-ons.
