Arsenal and Nicolas Pépé: Yes, supporters, it’s acceptable to be excited

As all signs point to a deal being pushed across the line between Arsenal and Lille for Nicolas Pépé, an unfamiliar feeling has set-in for many supporters about the present and future of the club.

Reports have flooded in from every corner of the footballing media about Nicolas Pépé, the Ivory Coast international winger who carried Lille to a second place finish in Ligue 1 last season, joining Arsenal in this transfer window after all parties involved have an agreement in place.

This move seemingly has come out of nowhere, as it had been widely speculated that it was either Wilfried Zaha or Everton Soares as the winger Arsenal would sign this window. However, over the last week, the Pépé deal picked up momentum on the Gunners’ side.

We are all aware that nothing is done until it is done and the player is announced by the club. That last sentence is indicative of what it’s like to be an Arsenal supporter, always waiting for things to fall through or talks to break down or waiting for another team to swoop-in at the last minute to derail the transfer.

If you are reading this and you are an Arsenal supporter, I’d like to invite you to be excited about where this club is heading.

Let’s look at what has happened in this window:

• -Gabriel Martinelli (18-years-old) is first signing of the window
• –William Saliba (18-years-old) signs and will join the team following a season-long loan at Saint Etienne
• –Dani Ceballos (22 [will soon be 23] years-old) joins on loan from Real Madrid
• -Nicolas Pépé (24-years-old) reportedly has agreed to Arsenal transfer

Those moves address many of the problems Arsenal have had for the last few seasons. They also signal a youth movement for the club that sets the Gunners on a solid foundation for the next three-to-five years.

I will speculate that I fully expect Celtic to quit messing around and accept the massive amount of money Arsenal have offered for fullback Kieran Tierney (22-years-old) who will calm the waters at left back.

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I also wouldn’t be surprised if Ceballos ends up a permanent transfer and the Aaron Ramsey replacement we need after his loan runs out, as long as he has a better showing than the Dennis Suarez disaster.

That would make this transfer window one of the biggest hauls in recent memory, and every player that has come in is under 25. This group has massive amounts of talent and could develop into a core of some of the best players in the Premier League.

That feeling you have right now is called ‘excitement.’

It’s called ‘the opposite of what we felt at the final whistle of the Euro League final.’

It seems to be a requirement for some to find the negative in every piece of news and continue to long-suffering attitude carried by many in the fanbase. I’m hoping we are able to move beyond that, now, and actually look forward to how good this upcoming team could be.

Also, I hope that the #WeCareDoYou contingent will extend the olive branch of #ThankYouForCaring or something along those lines. It is apparent that the Kroenke family does, in fact, care about the well-being of this club.

Now that they have assumed 100% ownership of the club, I have no doubts they have invested some of their own money to make these moves happen. As much criticism as was given earlier, they deserve a pat on the back (along with Raul Sanllehi, Vinai Venkatesham, Edu Gaspar, and Unai Emery) for putting this window together.

While all the other clubs across Europe and all of the so-called ‘In The Know’ journalists spend the coming days trying to calculate how Arsenal were able to do these signings on the meager budget they’ve been reporting, Pépé and his new teammates are ready to permanently paint London red.