Napoli, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Manchester United were all heavily linked with the 24-year-old. Pepe found the back of the net 22 times for Lille in the league last season and was only outdone by Paris Saint Germain striker Kylian Mbappe, who blew away all his competition with 33 goals. Previously, it was former Borussia Dortmund star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who held the record of most-expensive Arsenal player ever, after joining the North Londoners in 2017 for €60million. “In talking with Nicolas and his agents, the discussion centred on a few clubs so we preferred to focus on the projects that interested the player”. But it doesn’t make much sense from a financial point of view, with Arsenal’s issues at the heart of their defence still unresolved with William Saliba not arriving until next season. If the signing of Dani Ceballos on a season-long from Real Madrid excited Arsenal’s fans, this deal for Pepe will knock their socks off. Manager Unai Emery is still hoping to bring in a defender, with Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney the most likely to come in, while the likes of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi could move on. What this means for the future of Iwobi,…