With reports that Manchester United and Arsenal are both looking at Nicolas Pépé, there has been a little bit of hope within both fanbases that the young forward could move in January.
The 23-year-old could have left in the summer, as Lyon reportedly bid around €30m for his services, yet the forward decided to stay at Lille for the current season after discussing the situation with his entourage.
Manchester United sent a scout last week to watch Pépé play Bordeaux, and while he impressed with his performance, he failed to find the back of the net due to an in form Benoit Costil.
As for Arsenal, there hasn’t been any recent reports of them keeping an eye on him in stadiums per se, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching his appearances on a football pitch via Wyscout and other such platforms.
Despite all this interest, Nicolas Pepe, in an interview for Telefoot in France, made it very clear he would be staying at Lille this season, replying “No, I’m not leaving” when asked about a January transfer.
Not setting himself any limits for the future, the Ivory Coast international did explain he wanted to play in the ‘top clubs’, a category both the Gunners and the Red Devils comfortably fall in.
Scoring yet another goal in a 3-0 win against Marseille on Sunday, Pépé will be very expensive come the end of the current campaign if he carries on with his form, scoring five goals and picking up five assists in eight games.
