Arsenal: Nicolas Pepe a masterstroke by Raul Sanllehi and Edu

Arsenal are on the verge of signing Lille winger Nicolas Pepe after agreeing a £72 million deal. It is a transfer masterstroke by Raul Sanllehi and Edu.

Gunner fans were sent over the moon on Saturday when news broke that Arsenal reached an agreement to sign Lille winger, Nicolas Pepe. Pepe notched over 20 goals and 10 assists last season, making him one of the most sought after wingers in Europe. In other words, he is exactly the kind of player the Gunners are used to missing out on. So what changed?

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This time, Arsenal used an aggressive wage package with numerous bonus opportunities to knock Napoli out of the bidding. If the Pepe deal is indeed completed, every member of Arsenal’s front office deserves a heartfelt round of applause for a job very well done. He would be quite the coup.

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Arsenal came into this transfer window with more areas of need than it looked like they could address in one summer. Last season, a lack of natural wingers forced central midfielders like Alex Iwobi and Mesut Ozil to play in wide roles that they were poorly suited for. The midfield was basically null and void after Aaron Ramsey’s season-ending hamstring injury. The Welshman’s darting runs from deep and timely finishing absolutely had to be replaced. Complicating matters further, the team was in desperate need of defensive reinforcements at several positions.

With a transfer budget mooted to be a paltry £45 million, lesser targets were at first named as possible signings. There were links about a double swoop for Joachim Andersen and Denis Praet of Sampdoria. Andersen went to Lyon. Praet went nowhere. A long rumored bid for Ryan Fraser never materialized. Sven Mislintat was in the papers throwing shade at Raul Sanllehi and Unai Emery as he dished on the details of his Arsenal break up. It was beginning to feel like the worst kind of deja vu. But then Edu came on as Technical Director, the Adidas money came in, and things began moving very quickly.

The club completed a move for Gabriel Martinelli, a promising young forward from Brazil. Then Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur to the signatures of Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos (for a season, at least) and Saint-Etienne prodigy, William Saliba. Suddenly, it was shaping up to be a very solid summer. And Pepe is the proverbial icing on the cake. What a remarkable turnaround!

It’s not perfect, but it’s much more than most fans would have expected even a month ago. No, Saliba won’t arrive for another year. Yes, the Kieran Tierney deal is stalling. But if that is completed, this will have been the best transfer window since David Dein left. And even if Tierney does not arrive in north London, adding Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos is still a massive talent infusion which will have a positive kick on effect all over the pitch for Arsenal.

It’s hard to imagine a player of Pepe’s quality not making a difference during last year’s failed run down the stretch for a Champions League spot. Adding Dani Ceballos to a midfield mix of Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi, and Lucas Torreira gives Unai Emery a wide range of high-quality options in the midfield. Mesut Ozil hasn’t had this many finishers in front of him since he left Real Madrid. There is also plenty of time left in the transfer window to make defensive upgrades.

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For the first time in a long time, Arsenal fans have a reason to be excited about the club’s future. Much of that is down to the work of the new regime. In just two summer transfer windows, they have acquired Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi, William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli and now potentially Pepe. These are all young players with long-term growth potential and the ability to contribute on day one. It probably won’t lead to a title next season, but make no mistake, if Pepe comes through, this has been a masterclass by Sanllehi and Edu in the transfer market. Long may it continue.

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