Arsenal are looking increasingly likely to see off strong competition to land Nicolas Pepe, with the Gunners now in advanced talks over the structure of a staggered payment plan for the €80 million (£72m/$89m) Lille winger.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain had all been credited with an interest in the Ivory Coast international, who bagged an impressive 23 goals and 12 assists across all competitions in the 2018-19 season.
Indeed, Napoli head coach Carlo Ancelotti recently admitted to being in talks with the winger's representatives , stating: "Obviously, we are interested in Pepe, his agents are here [in Italy] and there’s no point hiding that.