Why Arsenal need Nicolas Pepe despite Reiss Nelson returning in the summer
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Arsenal are linked with Lille’s winger Nicolas Pepe who is certain to leave the French outfit in the summer. Lille’s President Gerard Lopez confirmed that LOSC Lille will not be able to afford the wages Nicolas Pepe is expected to demand and will offload the winger for a good transfer fee.
The Ivory Coast attacker has scored 20 goals and bagged 14 assists this season so far for LOSC Lille. His plaudits has attracted interest from top clubs including PSG and Arsenal. While PSG have the likes of Di Maria, Mbappe and Neymar, Arsenal desperately need a top quality winger. The North London side currently have Mkhitaryan and Iwobi in their payroll but even the combined goal and assists tally of both players fall well short of what Nicolas Pepe offers in front of goal.
The difference between Arsenal and their top 4 rivals – Chelsea and Tottenham has been the goals scored by the wingers. Hazard has managed to score 16 times for Chelsea and Son has scored 12 times for Tottenham in the Premier League this season while Arsenal’s Iwobi managed to score just 3 from 29 appearances and Mkhitaryan scored only 6 times so far in this campaign. At 30, expecting Mkhitaryan to roll back the years is a big-ask and Arsenal need to address the issue in the flanks. If Arsenal had enough goals coming from the wings, they would be closer to the top 2 and might have sealed a top 4 spot right now.
Arsenal do have the option of using Reiss Nelson in the next campaign. The winger who is on loan at Hoffenheim started his Bundesliga campaign with 6 goals in 7 games but he is still a raw talent as a 19 year old and was exiled by the Hoffenheim staff for a few games after he turned up late for training. He also endured a dry spell in the Bundesliga after the first 7 games and failed to score in the next 11 before finally finding the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season on Sunday. Reiss Nelson has great potential and Arsenal should offer him a chance in the upcoming campaign either in the place of Mkhitaryan or Iwobi but it will be too much to ask the Winger to replicate the number of goals coming from Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea or Tottenham’s wings.
The capital outfit certainly need an established winger if they are to challenge for the title in the next couple of years. That is why they need to sign Pepe who has the talent and the experience to score 20 goals in a campaign. The 23 year old comes with a big price tag and Arsenal have to spend £50 million to land the Ivory Coast International. With the Premier League’s TV deal money, Arsenal should be able to afford the transfer fee for Pepe and also target Ajax left back Nicolas Tagliafico.
Nelson’s preferred position is in the right wing but he can also play on the left side allowing Arsenal to start Pepe on the right if the Unai Emery convinces the highly talented winger to join the North London side instead of PSG. With Aubameyang or Lacazette heading the attack with Nelson on the left and Pepe on the right, Arsenal would boast a terrifying front three. The standard and quality of the Premier League has improved drastically in the last three years and the gap between the top two and the rest is widening. To catch up, Arsenal need top signings and Pepe is the kind of winger who can significantly improve the goal tally of the Gunners in the upcoming seasons.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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