Nicolas Pepe - Signs for Arsenal

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Lille tried to offload this lad last summer due to financial issues at the club. Accepted a relatively low bid for him from some club (Roma maybe?), chairman told him he was off and he refused to go, albeit, he had been somewhat unremarkable during his time at Lille.

Anyway, he stays and fires them to a very good position in the league and he’s worth a fortune. Funny how football works isn’t it?
 
VP89 said:
Yeah he seems to be OK enough against the opposition in that league, but a lot of the time it's almost gone away form him and he's kicking it further away form defenders each time, rather than actually closely dribbling with the ball. I'm not sure if that style will work much in this league where players are much smarter to their press.
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He actually beats players with close trickey too but yes I do get your point
 
crossy1686 said:
Lille tried to offload this lad last summer due to financial issues at the club. Accepted a relatively low bid for him from some club (Roma maybe?), chairman told him he was off and he refused to go, albeit, he had been somewhat unremarkable during his time at Lille.

Anyway, he stays and fires them to a very good position in the league and he’s worth a fortune. Funny how football works isn’t it?
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He was remarkable for Lille last season which was his first season for them, he has only been remarkable for Lille. Lille didn't try to sell him, he was in fact the last player they wanted to sell but didn't exclude it due issues with the DNCG. And it was Lyon that was after him.
 
JPRouve said:
He was remarkable for Lille last season which was his first season for them, he has only been remarkable for Lille. Lille didn't try to sell him, he was in fact the last player they wanted to sell but didn't exclude it due issues with the DNCG. And it was Lyon that was after him.
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Out of curiousity, would you want him at United? Do you think he could be played as the forward in our 4-4-2 diamond formation?
 
bucky said:
Out of curiousity, would you want him at United? Do you think he could be played as the forward in our 4-4-2 diamond formation?
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I don't really know like I said earlier in this thread, I like him but the fact that he has never played in a european competition means that I don't really know where he is at.
 
JPRouve said:
I don't really know like I said earlier in this thread, I like him but the fact that he has never played in a european competition means that I don't really know where he is at.
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Thanks, your post sounded quite encouraging, which is why I was asking.
 
Personally I prefer Chiesa from Fiorentina who looks a better player IMO.
 
JPRouve said:
I don't really know like I said earlier in this thread, I like him but the fact that he has never played in a european competition means that I don't really know where he is at.
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I'm with you on this point. But at the same time, I think he scored like 11 of his 22 goals against top 7-8 with some remarkable performances (including 7 against Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Sainté).

So it's fair to say with what he was capable of playing against in terms of big teams, he has clearly a decent record... Contrary to players like Thauvin or Payet.

I guess that's leave open the question mark of what he's capable against even better teams :)
 
It seems that Sancho is going to stay at Dortmund. Do you think there is a better alternative for our right wing than Pepe?
 
Adnan said:
Chiesa IMO
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Chiesa has some extremely average stats for a winger. Stats don’t tell the full story etc and Chiesa is only 21, but 25 goal/assist contributions in 99 games doesn’t seem to suggest he’s suddenly going to leap up a level at a completely higher surrounding.

Although I didn’t realise Florentina were so shit this season! They finished 16th!
 
The Nani said:
Me too. At West Ham.
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+1
I agree. And I can't understand overrating of some of our players. Rashford for example is not world class and will never be. He lack the football IQ and skillset for that. Lingard same. Martial has the skillset but not the application and fight in him to make it. So the sooner people realize that to progress we need better players that Rashford or Martial for attacking positions the better. There are maybe 5-8 players I would keep from this batch of first team players that United has at the moment and even this group doesn't include for example Pogba.
 
DWelbz19 said:
Chiesa has some extremely average stats for a winger. Stats don’t tell the full story etc and Chiesa is only 21, but 25 goal/assist contributions in 99 games doesn’t seem to suggest he’s suddenly going to leap up a level at a completely higher surrounding.

Although I didn’t realise Florentina were so shit this season! They finished 16th!
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His stats aren't bad considering the team he's playing in.
 
DWelbz19 said:
Chiesa has some extremely average stats for a winger. Stats don’t tell the full story etc and Chiesa is only 21, but 25 goal/assist contributions in 99 games doesn’t seem to suggest he’s suddenly going to leap up a level at a completely higher surrounding.

Although I didn’t realise Florentina were so shit this season! They finished 16th!
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Yep they had a bit of good form when Muriel was signed on loan and came in with a bunch of goals from the start. Were around mid table and looked like they might go above that.

But they had some of the worst form around in the last 14 league matches where they managed 0 wins, 6 draws and 8 defeats

Chiesa longterm would be a great signing. Fantastic dribbler with speed who can get a goal or set one up. And Pepe scored 13 goals from open play to his 6 in a weaker league than Serie A - Pepe scored a lot of penalties on top.

Both good options but I think Chiesa will end up the better player most likely.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
We can't sign him no matter what, and our barometer for a good should not be someone significantly better than Mata. We need someone with genuine quality.

Pepe looks interesting but doesn't seemt to have anywhere near the same level of natural talent as somebody like Sancho. And signing both could cost around 170. Were not spending that much on wingers.
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It's better to have a team full of 11 very good players than a team with 5 average + 6 excellent. Right now United are a mid-table side because too many players can't be arsed and have no competition for their place. The fix for that is 15% - 20% turnover of players per year with under-performing players replaced; not just retirees. Football isn't about the skills, it's about the winning. Mata could be world-class if he had the physique to match his skills. Pepe is a winner: 10 MotM in 32 games.
 
Nick7 said:
Rashford would be a nailed on starter.

Fecking hell this place really has gone to the dogs.
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If next season he starts scoring from the get go then we'll have Rashford vs Mbappe thread back, this place goes from one extreme to another.
 
His coach, Christophe Galtier (manager of the year), words on him in his interview on L'Equipe :

"Him, I think he scored 35 goals in past 18 months. He only missed a single training session all season, because he took a hit. It speaks for itself. He's not a starlet/primadonna, he's a good boy surrounded by good people and with caracter. He handled all that happened to him pretty well. Sometimes, I had to keep him focused on the team/group vision, it's normal. I only needed three days to correct it."
 
MyOnlySolskjaer said:
I think this guy runs even less than Martial does.

As for the others, surely we should be aiming higher for this club.
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The perfect should not be the enemy of the possible.

Or, in English. A squad had 25 players. Begin rebuilding it by moving your weakest players on and bringing in far better replacements.
 
Where will he play though. Not worried as he is not better than Mane or Salah or Firminho.
 
Kearnkoff69 said:
Looks like he'd fit perfectly into Kopp's system. Watch him go there and be great, while the Caf moans about us not signing him.
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If he ends up at Liverpool, man.... I would be super pissed off. Pepe is just the guy we need and we've been doing absolutely nothing.
 
LiquidSnake said:
His coach, Christophe Galtier (manager of the year), words on him in his interview on L'Equipe :

"Him, I think he scored 35 goals in past 18 months. He only missed a single training session all season, because he took a hit. It speaks for itself. He's not a starlet/primadonna, he's a good boy surrounded by good people and with caracter. He handled all that happened to him pretty well. Sometimes, I had to keep him focused on the team/group vision, it's normal. I only needed three days to correct it."
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This is what I want to hear about our targets. Need players like this.
 
That will be the biggest piss take ever, if true. It will be Mane part II.
 
We don't know what's going on behind the scenes etc. BUT if this is true then you have to question our team.
 
passing-wind said:
He's a good player I don't see why we aren't interested, it's bad enough being rejected (possibly) by Sancho. We need to go into next season with a natural winger down the right.
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James?
 
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