Unai Emery has heap praise on Arsenal's transfer target Nicolas Pepe and also revealed why he wants the Ivorian star in his team. Arsenal fell to a 2-1 defeat against French Ligue 1 giants Lyon in the Emirates Cup and after the game, the Spanish coach jumped on the questions about his club's transfer target.
Recent reports claim that Arsenal are close to an €80 million (£72m/$89m) agreement with Lille as talks progressed rapidly over the weekend.
The former Paris Saint-Germain said the Lille forward can help the North London side improse that's the focus of the team now.
"The club is thinking about how we can improve. There are different players on the table," Emery said after his side's 2-1 defeat to Lyon in a friendly on Sunday.
"Pepe’s a very good player. We only want players who can really, really improve the squad. We want the best players possible for the first game at Newcastle."
In the other news, Lyon boss who played for Arsenal during his time in England Sylvinho backed Pepe to succeed at the Emirates Stadium when he was asked how he thinks the attacker will fare in England: “Pepe is a top player and could add a lot to Arsenal," he said.
The Gunners are not the only side to have made a bid for Pepe this summer, as the Lille club's president, Gerard Lopez, admitted on Friday that four clubs have made acceptable bids, naming Napoli as one.
“We received offers that satisfy us economically from four big clubs. “[Napoli chairman Aurelio] De Laurentiis has satisfied our request for €80m. Now it is up to the player to decide where he wants to go. “He must make that decision based on the offers that his agents have received from the four clubs.
“On Monday, Pepe will return from vacation and I believe that by the middle of the week he will have made a decision.”
Pepe, whose contract with Lille runs until 2022, has scored 37 times in 79 appearances for the club since joining from Angers in 2017.

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