Manchester United are being linked as one of a number of top clubs showing an interest in sealing the transfer of in-form Lille star Nicolas Pepe.
The Ivory Coast international has been one of the stand-out attacking players in Europe this season, scoring 13 goals and laying on five assists for his team-mates in all competitions so far this term.
It seems clear Pepe is the real deal and would be a big hit at a top club, with Matt Spiro recently tweeting a translation of a report from L’Equipe strongly linking the player with Arsenal.
Arsenal leading chase for Nicolas Pepe but lots of competition emerging. L’Equipe this morning suggest Lille will negotiate in January if a club opens bidding at €50m. But owner has previously stated he won’t sell mid season
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) December 17, 2018
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The latest, however, seems to be that Manchester United are also potentially in the running, with another L’Equipe piece listing them as suitors alongside Bayern Munich and Juventus.
The report, translated by Get French Football News, does state, however, that it is unclear if United’s interest in the attacker, valued at €60million by his club, will remain as strong since Jose Mourinho’s departure as manager this week.
Pepe would no doubt be a fine signing for the Red Devils given their current struggles in attack, with players like Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford not really justifying their places in the team.
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replacing Mourinho, however, it remains to be seen if the club may try other transfer targets instead, or indeed wait until the summer to do most of their spending as they look set to then bring in a long-term appointment in the dugout.
This could be good news for Arsenal, who also look in need of improvements in attack as players like Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan look unconvincing this season, while Mesut Ozil has also fallen out of favour with manager Unai Emery in recent games.