Granit Xhaka has dropped a huge hint over Nicolas Pepe’s future by ‘liking’ an Instagram post about Arsenal’s move for the forward.
Reports this weekend claim that Arsenal have beaten off competition from Napoli for 24-year-old attacker Pepe after agreeing a €80million (£72m) deal with Lille.
Though the Gunners still need to finalise an agreement with Pepe’s representatives, an official announcement over the Ivorian’s switch is expected in the coming days.
Arsenal have already completed deals for Dani Ceballos, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba this summer and it looks increasingly likely that Pepe will be the next through the doors at the Emirates.
Amid the speculation, Xhaka – who is the leading candidate to be Arsenal’s captain this season – appeared to confirm Pepe’s imminent transfer.
The Swiss midfielder ‘liked’ a post from Instagram account ‘433‘ which said: ‘Arsenal have reached an agreement with Lille for the €80m transfer of Nicolas Pepe.’
Eagle-eyed Arsenal fans noticed that Emile Smith Rowe had also clicked ‘like’ on the post.
?Granit Xhaka and Emile Smith Rowe’s both liked a post about Arsenal reaching an agreement for Nicolas Pepe. [@afcstuff] #afc pic.twitter.com/HcJvJxceZk
— DailyAFC™ (@DailyAFC) July 28, 2019
Arsenal boss Unai Emery insists the club are looking for reinforcements ‘who will improve the squad’ amid rumours of Pepe’s imminent arrival.
‘The club is thinking on how we can improve,’ he said following Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Lyon at the Emirates Cup.
‘There are different players on the table. Pepe’s a very good player. We only want players who can really, really improve the squad.
‘We want the best players possible for the first game at Newcastle.’
Asked whether Arsenal need a new winger before the end of the transfer window, Emery replied: ‘Again, we really want players who make the squad better than last year.’
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