ARSENAL MANAGER UNAI Emery hopes to have his fourth signing of the transfer window completed by the end of the week as Lille winger Nicolas Pepe looks set for a move to London in a deal worth €80 million.
Having already signed Dani Ceballos on a season-long loan from Real Madrid, as well as Gabriel Martinell, Emery is on the verge of adding another new face to his squad ahead of the season opener away to Newcastle on 11 August.
“The club is thinking about how we can improve,” the Gunners’ boss said over the weekend. “There are different players on the table.
Pepe’s a very good player. We only want players who can really, really improve the squad. We want the best players possible in time for the first game.”
It’s believed the Frenchman will have a medical at the club this week. Pepe scored 22 goals in the French top flight last season, helping Lille to a second place finish in Ligue 1.
He also helped his side to French Cup success over giants PSG.
Pepe had been linked with a host of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Napoli, Manchester United, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti said over the weekend he wasn’t aggrieved about supposedly missing out on securing the 24-year-old’s services.
“I don’t like to talk about players of other teams, but I’m not disappointed,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“We have some players like Allan, [Kalidou] Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz who are still on holiday.
“We are definitely looking for players. The transfer window is so long. We are looking [at signings]. If there are opportunities, we will look to seize those chances.”
