Arsenal breaks transfer record to sign Pepe from Lille

By: The Associated Press Posted: 12:04 PM CDT Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019 Last Modified: 12:30 PM CDT Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019

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LONDON - Arsenal has broken its transfer record to sign winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille as the London club tries to return to the Champions League.

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LONDON - Arsenal has broken its transfer record to sign winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille as the London club tries to return to the Champions League.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/08/2019 (2592 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON – Arsenal has broken its transfer record to sign winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille as the London club tries to return to the Champions League.

The 24-year-old Ivory Coast international is moving to the Premier League in a transfer deal worth a reported 80 million euros ($89 million).

Pepe’s move, announced Thursday, eclipses the 55 million pounds ($67 million) spent on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January 2018 as Arsenal adds another attacking option to a squad that finished fifth last season.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018 file photo, Lille's Nicolas Pepe, center, in action during the French League One soccer match against Nantes at the Lille Metropole stadium, in Villeneuve d'Ascq, northern France. Arsenal has broken its transfer record on Thursday Aug. 1, 2019, by signing winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille as the London club tries to return to the Champions League. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, FILE)

Arsenal manager Unai Emery says, “Nicolas is a highly-rated and talented winger who was wanted by many of the top teams in Europe. Signing a top-class winger has been one of our key objectives in this transfer window and I’m delighted he’s joining. He will add pace, power and creativity, with the aim of bringing more goals to our team.”

Pepe started out as a goalkeeper before reverting to being an outfield player during his time with amateur side Poitiers.

A switch to Angers followed before he moved to Lille in 2017, scoring 35 league goals in his two seasons with last year’s runner-up in the French league.

Arsenal will be playing in the second-tier Europa League again after losing in that league’s final to rival Chelsea and failing to finish in the Premier League’s top four.