Lille club president Gerard Lopez has revealed that Nicolas Pepe is close to leaving the club.
The 24-year-old has been heavily linked with a €70 million move to Liverpool this summer, with numerous other European giants also named as potential suitors for the forward.
Liverpool’s rivals Manchester United and Arsenal have been tipped to sign the Ivorian ahead of the new season, with Inter Milan also named as a potential destination for the pacey forward.
The heavy speculation regarding the Ligue 1 star has come to fruition after Pepe’s outstanding individual campaign last season.
Pepe scored 23 times in 41 appearances for Lille, helping them to a shock second-placed finish in the French top flight.
And talking to French outlet La Voix du Nord, cited by GFFN, president Lopez confirmed that the Ivorian is close to ending his two-year association with the club.
Our work is done.
In terms of departures and arrivals: if a player leaves, we will go and get what we need.
For Nico, it is almost done and he could have left last summer. It’s true that there are big offers and big clubs in for him, so I think… (he will leave). Aside from that, you never know in football.
It remains to be seen as to who is winning the race for the highly-rated forward, however, we may well get an answer soon, which could see the star make the move to Merseyside.
