Arsenal will surely struggle to land Pepe now Bayern Munich are involved

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Bayern Munich have apparently lodged an €80 million (£69 million) offer for Lille winger Nicolas Pepe.

The Ivory Coast international has been in scintillating form this season for the French club, scoring 18 goals in 31 appearances. He has also laid on eight assists for teammates.

His brilliance has alerted some of Europe’s top clubs, and it looks unlikely he will remain with Lille beyond the summer of 2019.

Bayern’s offer, reported by BeIN Sports, would make Pepe the club’s most expensive signing by some distance – currently, the record is held by Corentin Tolisso who joined the club for £35.2 million in 2017 (The Guardian).

The news may be considered a blow by Arsenal, whom The Times reported were an interested party back in November.

TBR’s view

If Bayern’s offer is genuine, then Arsenal may struggle to snap up the exciting winger from here.

Enticingly, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are both out of contract at the end of the season, meaning the chance to play regularly for a hugely successful club will be high for Pepe.

Bayern are known to snap up all the best German talent, but down the years they have been no strangers to signing French players.

Players such as Willy Sagnol, Bixente Lizarazu, Ribery, Kingsley Coman and Tolisso have all had successful stints at the Allianz Arena.

One gets the feeling that, after their recent Champions League exit at the hands of Liverpool, Bayern will be aggressive this summer in terms of overhauling their team.

Pepe is one of the hottest wingers in Europe and Arsenal, right now, arguably don’t have the same lure as the German giants.