Arsenal look to have been handed a transfer boost as Barcelona no longer look likely to be in the running to seal the transfer of Lille forward Nicolas Pepe.
According to Don Balon, the Catalan giants had been among the top sides ready to make a move for the £72million-rated Ivory Coast international, but only if they failed to pull off the signing of Antoine Griezmann.
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Now that Griezmann has officially joined Barcelona, that will surely mean the club don’t need someone like Pepe as well, as they already have an embarrassment of riches up front with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho alongside their summer signing from Atletico Madrid.
Don Balon do mention, however, that Paris Saint-Germain may be in the running for Pepe as well, though Arsenal could again have the edge as the Ligue 1 giants are waiting to see what happens with Neymar before making their move.
Pepe would be a dream signing to significantly improve this Arsenal attack, with the likes of Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan surely not good enough to take the club back into the top four.
The Gunners have also notably been linked with a similar player in Wilfried Zaha by the Daily Star and others.
Pepe, however, is arguably the superior player and would represent a real statement of intent by Arsenal if they can get him in.