When Everton seemingly overtook Arsenal as favourites to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace this summer by blowing the Gunners’ £40million offer out of the water, unsurprising frustration followed.
The fact Arsenal couldn’t afford Zaha made it all the more surprising when reputable BBC journalist David Ornstein revealed this morning that the club have agreed an €80million fee with Lille for winger Nicolas Pepe.
After scoring 22 goals in 38 Ligue 1 games last season, Pepe has been widely pursued by some of Europe’s biggest clubs this summer but it looks like it’ll be the Emirates Stadium where he ends up.
The 24-year-old guided Lille to a second-place finish in France last season and will have to miss out on Champions League football if he joins Unai Emery’s squad, but it’s no doubt an exciting career move.
With the mass interest in his services in mind, let’s go through the winners and losers of this monumental deal.
