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What's the news?
Amid Romelu Lukaku's uncertain future at Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is pushing to sign Nicolas Pepe before the 2019-20 season commences.
In case you didn't know...
Pepe had an outstanding 2018/19 campaign for Lille, where he managed 22 goals and 11 assists in the French League. The Ivorian's prolific spell last season had garnered interest from a host of European teams, namely Manchester United, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, and Napoli.
Earlier, Lille confirmed that Nicolas Pepe would leave the club this summer. Christophe Gaultier, the club's manager, broke out the news by saying,
"Nicolas Pepe will leave. Life's like that, football's like that today. He is a player of the highest level who will have a big decision to make on the choice of his next club. There will be a battle between the great European teams. I hope that he will take good amount of time to think about it, do his research, like he did when he came here and when he decided to stay here (last summer), find the right project."
The previous rumours suggested that Pepe was close to signing for Liverpool. Regarding this situation, Lille's president Gerard Lopez said, "I know there have been discussions with the player, not with us as a club, Liverpool has players in those positions, and I read that maybe there were players who could leave, or not. I am not particularly focused on Liverpool. But it is true that there have been discussions with agents.”
The heart of the matter
According to reports emerging from The Times, Manchester United have entered the race to sign the 24-year-old as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer targets him to embellish the Red Devils' attack.
If the developments are to be trusted, Ole has convinced the United bosses to match Lille's £70 million asking price for Pepe. The departure of Lukaku would create a void in the Red Devils' forward ranks and the Lille forward is envisaged as the perfect fit for Solskjaer's system due to his mobility and ability to play anywhere across the front-line.
What's next?
With Romelu Lukaku's future up in the air, Solskjaer could work with his bosses to conclude a deal for Nicolas Pepe as soon as possible.
Also Read: 3 players Manchester United should offload before the transfer window closes
