Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City are just two of the Premier League sides reportedly keen to sign Lille’s Ligue 1 star Pepe.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have one of the most ambitious projects in European football right now.
Since Chinese billionaires Fosun International sealed their takeover of the Black Country side in 2016, they have risen from the depths of the Championship to the top half of the Premier League while breaking their transfer record on four occasions.
But, while Wolves are hardly short of funds or big ideas, battling Manchester City and co for the electric Lille winger Nicolas Pepe might be beyond them right now.
Le10 Sport claimed in December that Wolves are keeping tabs on the Ivory Coast international, who has fired Lille to second in the Ligue 1 table with 16 goals and a further eight assists in just 23 games.
Le10 Sport has provided an update this week, however, claiming that Manchester City want to enhance their already star-studded attack by bringing Pepe to The Etihad. Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Arsenal are also understood to be interested.
Furthermore, Lille’s sporting director Luis Campos has confirmed that Lille will demand £72 million for arguably the most coveted player in French football, as reported by Telefoot. It is fair to say that is a bit more than Wolves paid for their current record signing, the £18 million Adama Traore.
Wolves have made great strides in recent seasons but it may take some time before they can battle City, Bayern and Barca for a £72 million attacker.
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