Iwobi Faces Tough Battle In New Season As Lille President Confirms Transfer Of Pepe To Arsenal

Published: July 31, 2019

Alex Iwobi faces a tough battle to regain his spot in Arsenal's starting line-up in the new season with Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pépé set to be unveiled by the Gunners in the coming days.

Manager Unai Emery is expected to line up with a front three of Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Pepe when the season begins which will see Iwobi relegated to the bench.

Since breaking into the Arsenal first team three years ago, last season was the Nigeria international's most productive season, having had a hand in 14 goals (6 goals, 8 assists) in 51 matches across all competitions.

Lille President Gerard Lopez has confirmed the information about Pepe's upcoming move to the Emirates Stadium which would make him the most expensive African player in history.

''He is the one who made the decision, I think it should be (made official) in the next 24 hours,'' Lopez told RMC.

''It is €80m fixed. If we pushed this deal out a little bit longer, we could have had 5 or 6 offers of the same size.

''Through discussions with Nico and his agents, things focused on the certain clubs that we wanted to focus on, the two projects that interested the player.''

Iwobi was one of the most used Arsenal players in Emery's first season in charge, starting 32 games in all competitions.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com