Arsenal Transfer Rumors: One target to rule them all

Arsenal supposedly have a ‘short-list’ of January transfer targets, but one takes priority above all the rest, and should rule them all.

According to reports from the Daily Star, Sven Mislintat has a shortlist of five transfer targets that Arsenal will be focused on this January transfer window. There are a spattering of positions covered, with young names being the clear theme, but of all the names that are on this list, including Ousmane Dembele, there is one target to rule them all.

That one target is Nicolas Pepe. Am I on he bandwagon? Yes. Am I riding then hype train? Absolutely. There were eyes on him before this season because it was meant to be a sort of season of reckoning for him.

Lille have a history for churning out young wingers like Pepe who go on to bigger and better things. Arsenal would know. They tried their hand at one not long ago in Gervinho. Clearly Chelsea got the better one when they signed up Eden Hazard.

Just from watching Pepe play this season, you can see just how ready he is for elevated competition. He seems to do what he wants, when he wants. The goals and assists just keep coming and at this rate, he may even put up better numbers than Hazard’s swan song with the French side.

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The list of targets contains a few defenders, none of whom I find all that interesting because the Gunners already have young defenders at the club (Mavropanos, for instance) with loaned out players also still awaiting their fate (Chambers, Bielik).

This attack needs youth. With Mkhitaryan, Ozil and Aubameyang all pushing 30 or over, it’s never too early to start planning ahead. Pepe is 23 years old, he plays the one position that we have been sorely lacking in for some time and if you land him to pair with Reiss Nelson opposite each other, you have something pretty special, pretty young, and definitely dynamic. That should be a goal of the future, building for the gaps that are in the squad, and Pepe accomplishes that.

When you throw him in with Iwobi and Nelson, you start to see real potential in the wings that goes beyond hoping Mkhitaryan can figure things out.

The attack is the name of the game here at the Emirates, so why focus on anything else? Bring home the talent.