Announced as imminent by the British newspaper The Times, the arrival of Nicolas Pépé at OGC Nice is indeed on the right track. According to the player’s entourage, whom we were able to contact, the Gym and Arsenal are working on a one-season dry loan, with no option to buy, for the Ivorian international winger (34 caps / 9 goals). A solution that could suit all parties.
Denouement in the weekend?
On the one hand Arsenal could relaunch a player bought at a very high price three seasons ago at Losc (80 million euros) and who is no longer in the plans of Mikel Arteta, the Gunners coach. On the other, OGC Nice would obtain a weight reinforcement at a lower cost to bring consistency and above all speed to an offensive sector that has suffered this summer (2 goals scored in 3 games since the resumption). Lucien Favre has been asking for depth since his arrival on the bench of the Aiglons and the fast and powerful profile of the former Lille player seems to tick all the boxes. Finally for the player now 27 years old, this loan on the Côte d’Azur would allow him to erase a last season spent on the bench (20 games / 1 goal in PL) and to find Ligue 1 where he is. is first revealed with Angers before exploding in the North (79 games / 37 goals with Lille).
A goalscorer and left-back still hoped for
According to our information, the file could be completed during the weekend and launch a turbulent end to the transfer window in Nice. The Edinson Cavani track remains active as a center forward and the Uruguayan’s brother was at the Gym training center on Friday to listen to the Nice proposal according to Nice Matin. A left back is also hoped to compete with Melvin Bard. In the sense of departures, Morgan Schneiderlin must find a way out if he wants to play this season while youngsters Lucas Da Cunha and Alexis Trouillet still seem a little tender to find their place in Favre’s rotation and a loan could be a solution for both midfielders.