Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 03:30 pm
Arsenal officially unveiled four summer signing of Nicolas Pepe from Ligue 1 runner-up Lille for £72m club-record transfer.
The 24-year-old Ivory Coast international becomes Gunners fourth summer signing after France-based talent William Saliba, a highly-rated young centre-back who put pen to paper last week before being loaned back to St Etienne as part of the deal and Spanish midfielder Dani Ceballos arriving on a season-long loan from Real Madrid.
In July, the Arsenal completed the signing of Brazilian teenage forward Gabriel Martinelli from Ituano.
However, despite Arsenal has a limited summer transfer budget but the North London outfit have pulled the transfer for Pepe to overtake Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang £56 million paid by Unia Emery side to Borussia Dortmund in January 2018.
Pepe told Gunners official website revealed he cannot wait to get started in the Premier League, and he’s especially excited about playing alongside a certain France international.
He says it will be “an honour” to line up together.
“When I knew I was coming to Arsenal, I immediately thought of the French guys who play here,”
“I thought of Özil, the world champions, Lacazette, Aubameyang and many more. Of course, these are the players who sprang to mind because I used to watch them when I was at Lille.
“Also, Lacazette used to play for Lyon and so I have had the opportunity to play against him. It will be an honour to play alongside him.”
Head coach Unai Emery said: “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.”
Pepe moves to the Emirates Stadium following a stellar season in France that included 12 assists and 23 goals in 41 appearances will wear the No.19 shirt.
