Reports in England claim Arsenal have agreed a transfer fee of £71.1m with Lille for Manchester United and Napoli target Nicolas Pepe.

According to BBC Sport, the Gunners will pay in installments and an agreement over a five-year deal is expected to be reached in the next 48 hours.

The free-scoring Ivory Coast winger was on the radar of the Old Trafford club and Napoli, but reports claim the player rejected the Serie A club offer.

Napoli lost out because of issues pertaining to Pepe’s representatives and their commission, reported to be €5m each, on top of the €5m per year salary for the player.

Lille president Gerard Lopez confirmed on Friday that the club had received four acceptable offers for the highly rated 24-year-old, with L’Equipe reporting that Arsenal and Liverpool were two of the clubs involved.

Photo Credit: Sky Sports