Arsenal made some bold moves with the recent signing of Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe. This recent signing stands as the most expensive purchase the Gunners have ever dealt. Arsenal reportedly paid £72 million in order to acquire Pepe from Ligue 1 club Lille.
Pepe has had a quite remarkable season with Lille. The 24-year-old winger managed to net 35 goals in his 74 Ligue 1 appearances for Lille. On a separate note, Arsenal was beaten by Barcelona, 4-2, without Pepe on the list of rosters.
Arsenal has been quite busy in boosting its roster in order to stand a good chance to win the premiership this year. Pepe is just one of the many signing Arsenal has made recently. Among Arsenal's notable signings are Dani Ceballos, Gabriel Martinelli, and William Saliba.
Arsenal's recent signing made Pepe the most expensive African football player to sign for an English club. Aside from Arsenal, Italian club Napoli is also one of the frontrunners in acquiring Pepe. Reports claim that Pepe decided to join the Gunners due to the club's better offer compared to that of Napoli.
In a statement, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis said, "We are evaluating many names other than James Rodriguez, Hirving Lozano, and Mauro Icardi. So much so that I made a large offer for Pepe, but we were unable to get him. Arsenal has five times the revenue of Napoli, so they will have simply offered him more money."
With regards to his decision of joining Arsenal, Pepe revealed that a number of the club's notable players have helped him convinced to join the club. According to Pepe, he was convinced by players like Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Alexandre Lacazette to join Arsenal.
Arsenal's latest signing is seen by many analysts as the club's strategy of strengthening its squad in order to play a more contentious role for the title this year. Last year, Arsenal closed in at fifth place in the Premier League. While seen as some analysts as a just another generic club, Arsenal's recent acquisition moves are seen as a significant effort in order to boost the club's contention to the title.
Manchester City and Liverpool are still considered as the prime clubs to win the premiership this year. Nevertheless, Arsenal's, and other clubs', chance continue to improve as they push into signing new talents.
