Liverpool are not giving up hope of signing Lille’s Nicolas Pepe, despite firm interest in the winger from Inter Milan, according to La Voix Du Nord.
Telefoot 1 reported that the Reds were interested in the 24-year-old, but a more recent report [L’Equipe] indicated that the Italian club were also keen and had submitted an £80million bid to sign the attacker.
La Voix Du Nord now say, however, that Liverpool have not pulled the plug on their interest in Pepe, and are still considering a move to bring him to Merseyside this summer.
OPINION
There is no way Liverpool should give up hope of signing Pepe this summer. Even if Inter Milan are the first team to have made any kind of serious move for Pepe, Jurgen Klopp’s side should stick in there and an £80million bid from another club should not deter their interest. Last season, the winger scored 22 goals and assisted 11 others in 38 Ligue 1 games. What’s more, he averaged 3.1 shots, 1.8 key passes and 2.7 key dribbles per game. These statistics show that he is not afraid of shooting, has an eye for a pass and can split defences with his runs. Additionally, Pepe was fouled – on average – 2.8 times in each league game. This statistic clearly shows that the player is one who would seriously benefit Liverpool’s squad, since he can get into dangerous positions and force defenders into making rash challenges. All in all, Pepe is a very exciting prospect and one which Liverpool should definitely keep working to sign. He would seriously benefit the Reds squad, despite their already rich attacking options.
