PSG take shocking Neymar transfer decision, Juventus to beat Inter Milan to sign Romelu Lukaku and more: Transfer Roundup, 30 July 2019

By Shambhu Ajith

Modified Jul 31, 2019 05:59 GMT

Nicolas Pepe in London to complete Arsenal medical

Netherlands v Ivory Coast - International Friendly

Nicolas Pepe has landed in North London today and will undergo a medical ahead of a move to Arsenal. Arsenal had earlier agreed an €80 million club-record deal with Ligue 1 outfit LOSC Lille to sign Pepe up.

As per the reports, Pepe will join Unai Emery's side on a 5-year deal. The Ivory Coast international has been on the radar of several top clubs across Europe with sides like Liverpool, Napoli etc. also coming to an agreement with LOSC Lille over the fee.

However, Pepe has decided to snub the rest of them and join Arsenal. The 22-year-old was in sensational form, scoring 22 goals whilst also producing 11 assists for Lille last season and was only outscored by Kylian Mbappe in the league.

Pepe also became the first player at LOSC Lille to score more than 20 goals a season after Eden Hazard did it for them in 2011.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram