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A few weeks ago, Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal was just an audacious rumour and distant dream for Arsenal fans. But where there’s a will there’s a way. The Arsenal higher-ups have reportedly managed to secure a sensational deal to sign the 24-year-old winger for £72 million. The deal will see Arsenal pay a rumoured £20 million upfront, with the rest being structured across four years. This will be the club’s biggest ever signing, smashing their club-record fee of £57 million paid for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2017.
This signing is monumental for Arsenal, especially in a time where many fans were becoming disheartened with the clu
b’s transfer activity. Having only secured Dani Ceballos on a season-long loan and William Saliba arriving next season, fans wanted more.
Even with this amazing signing, there are still detractors pointing to the fact the Gunners should be looking to spend such money on a centre-back. However, the signing of Nicolas Pepe is far more important than a centre-back for Arsenal right now. Let me explain why.
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#3 Goalscoring winger
Arsenal signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in Arsène Wenger’s final season, with the club looking to provide the fans with a strike force they’ve been crying out for for years. That was a step in the right direction, but it wasn’t enough. The Gunners have needed a goalscoring winger ever since Robert Pires left the club. If you look at all the great title-winning teams, they’ve had prolific strikers complemented by goalscoring wingers.
Many say the best form of defence is attack, while Emery is still attempting to find a perfectly balanced defence. Last season, Nicolas Pepe scored 22 goals whilst providing 11 assists, averaging a goal or assist every 101 minutes. In contrast, Arsenal’s highest-scoring winger last season, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, could only produce six goals and four assists. Pepe’s signing will significantly reduce the pressure on Aubameyang and Lacazette to always bail out their underperforming teammates.
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#2 One of Europe’s most sought after commodities
I don’t remember the last time Arsenal signed a player that every top team in Europe wanted. The closest they’ve got to that situation is when Mesut Ozil was pushed out of Real Madrid, but even at that, not many clubs were aware that Carlo Ancelotti no longer wanted the German. Alexis Sanchez was another great coup for the club, but not many of Europe’s elites were after him either. Nicolas Pepe is an entirely different story.
Every top club in Europe has been monitoring the progress of Nicolas Pepe across the season, a season that saw him completely light up Ligue 1. These clubs weren’t just monitoring his progress, they were also negotiating fees with his agent.
Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Barcelona and Napoli all had an interest in the 24-year-old. Two of them even went as far to agreeing on the £72m fee with Lille, only for Raul Sanllehi to swoop in at the last second and offer a more appealing package to Pepe’s agent.
#1 Rob Holding and Hector Bellerín are back
Last season, the Gunners conceded 51 goals in the Premier League, the 2nd worst total in the top six. Many pundits were quick to remind Arsenal fans that they conceded the same amount of goals as Arsène Wenger’s worst-ever campaign. What they forget to mention are the season-ending injuries to Rob Holding and Hector Bellerín. The Englishman was undeniably one of Emery’s key players for the season, making 10 starts before losing his whole season to a knee injury.
If that wasn’t enough, Arsenal had to make do for the second half of the season without their first-choice right-back, Hector Bellerín. Instead, past his sell-by date Stephan Lichtsteiner and out of position Ainsley Maitland-Niles occupied that flank to not much avail.
You cannot underestimate the importance of these two young players given the way Unai Emery wants to play out from the back an set up a back four. Holding is due back late August while Bellerín could make his miraculous return in September. When they return to full fitness, they’ll be like two new signings for the club.
