Pepe is an Ivorian footballer. Yes he is from Gervinho country. The goal post scares Gervinho to death. He regularly misses sitters. Not so his countryman. In front of goal Pepe has no nerves to lose. And that is not all to him in and around the box. He sorts out his feet so quickly. He does not need a back lift to generate sufficient power on a shot. He knows where the goal posts are. His decisions in the box are ‘reflex’ i.e. damn fast. He is very weak with his right foot but in this respect think Arjen Robben, except I can’t remember the just retired Dutchman ever using his head. Pepe does and very well too. Spot kick, spot on. Please add up these attributes and tell me what pops up. Goals and goals and goals! Nicolas Pepe, the pearl of Lille, is a red hot goal scorer and assists producer: 22 goals and 11 assists last season says it all! The hottest pepper, hotter than the Carolina Reaper and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion combined! Take that home for starters.
It took Emery several months to fully realize and confess that in the Premier League physicality is sine qua non like in no other league. Pepe has pace, agility and the courage of Mane. Pepe to Premier League is fish to water, be rest assured. His runs off the ball are immaculate, Walcottesque. High defensive lines won’t like him. When he runs with the ball at opponents Walcott doesn’t show his face, not at all; pace, close control as if the ball is glued to his left foot and yet a vision for the final pass. He can play anywhere in the front three but he seems to give the biggest to the team as an inverted right winger. Emery is bent on his 5-4 extravaganza with still no fresh CD in the vicinity. Give me Pepe anytime.
Is his story with us true? £72m, a long cue and us the most eligible? Pepe excites me immensely. 13 times MOTM only behind Messi and Hazard in Europe last season (WhoScored). But even more exciting to me is the statement his signing makes. Yes we know that Arsenal is the 6th most valuable club in the world but we also know that they have grown as miserly as Silas Manner. Is our sojourn on foreign land, scavenging on the streets over? If Pepe is true (my dreams never come true), then the club has found the will to go back to its heritage. The fattest cow would be slaughtered and who knows Everton Soares and who else might be the next and the next. Am once again the pampered child of a billionaire, so why shouldn’t I ask for more. Imagine if we take this my mood to the Emirates.
I have given you words. If you are keen on stats here’s 7amkickoff below;
http://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2019/07/27/wow-pepe/
If you want highlights click below and watch out for all I said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk0PvCvHDKw
Pepe is hot pepper!!!
By Pony Eye.
Bergkampesque 
Stoking the fire there, are we, PE? Hot pepper, is an apt description but, let’s see how this deal gets to closure; then we can start to start to clink glasses because such a signing is a big deal. Already reading stuff which sound like sour grapes to me, such as “Arsenal had to pay the agent big fees”, or that “Arsenal are now dealing with the super agents, who were the ‘deplorables’ before now”…. I think pundits and negative fans are in shock. United fans are slating their management for losing out to us on this player and Liverpool tried a late approach with CL football as bait.
Fingers crossed, it gets done and we can say “Welcome to the Arsenal, Pepe”!
Oh, and that “7am Kickoff” article is instructive. I think the player took things a bit easy at the AFCON to save himself for his next move; well, at least, that’s my theory for why he didn’t shine even more at the games.
Eris, I had been dreaming of Pepe but had to kill the dream when the over £70m valuation of him was made known. All of a sudden all this … Am I into real dream? Whichever I’d enjoy myself while it lasts!
The agents and the super agents and all that stuff …. if it is what the market gives so be it.
TA, thanks for peppering the dish so well. That your combination sounds so exotic. 👍👍
Now Sami Khedira’s name suddenly appeared on the names of the players joining just because he was watching our match in Emirates. Funny though, we don’t seem to have enough of midfielders.
Pepe is a Zaha type of player. And also an Auba type. If Pepe and Auba appears on the same pitch the opposition will be burnt into ruins. That’s enough fire for you Eris.
I feel that this is somehow dream like and we only can pinch our faces in disbelief if this appears on the official website.
I feel i am still in bed and dreaming after reading Pepe’s news for the past few days. Let me dream longer, will ya?
Back to another player of ours that is proving to be a good loan signing. If Ceballos gets acquainted with the way we play football and how English footy is, we can see him as an upgrade to Rambo.
I have never seen him playing before, but last night’s game proved an eye opener and he is a class above the rest of the lads. That is how good he is.
Really, PE? Then you disguised it (your excitement) well.
@jk, that sure is high praise to Ceballos there. Let’s hope you are right and he delivers during the hard games. The downside is if he does well, Madrid will certainly be taking him back, or demanding astronomical fees for him seeing how much of a shambles they look to be, in pre-season.
Thanks for a fine post, PE. Let’s hope it will go ahead. We need the fat lady to start singing very, very soon! 🙂
Sky Sports– 45 minutes ago:
‘Nicolas Pepe set for Arsenal medical after £72m deal is agreed with Lille’
jw1
Cheers JW1. I prefer BBC and The Guardian as my sources (other than Arsenal.com of course) and the Guardian are confirming that personal terms have been agreed and announcement is imminent…
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jul/29/arsenal-nicolas-pepe-confirm-signing-record-deal-lille-contract
Yep. Saw that shortly after. Fingers crossed TA!
jw1
Expectations, expectations, expectations!
Nerve-wracking is what it is Eris!
A paradigm-shifting transfer for the new regime.
Pull this one off and they’ve laid down a marker for the near-term.
jw1
You can say that again, jw1
Jw1, I don’t think that it is a shift in the way we do things. We still haggle extensively, still do deals at the very last moment, and still short of a defender. Paradigm shift? Not to me.
But the deals that they concluded is like the year that we brought Ozil in: decisive.
Lets see the next couple of days if anything gets firmed up.
Except jk?
Ozil arrived in 2013. On the last day of the transfer window. September 3rd. Yep, been that long.
(Kos, Jenks, and Monreal the only players left from that season.)
It’s still July. Ten days to the August 8th PL deadline. I’m sensing a difference in the mindset.
I’m comfortable with ‘paradigm shift’ as compared to the last several years.
jw1
Paradigm shift it surely is. Finally coming to terms with the reality of the “inflated” market.
Jenko is one hell of a survivor, by Jove!
Not sure whether we are shifting anything, let alone a whole paradigm… 😀
New Post 🙂