Why Everton should avoid signing Nicolas Pepe for £30million
With Everton comfortably sitting 11th on the Premier League table, the Toffees must now start to aim higher and look for attacking reinforcements to add a cutting-edge in the final third.
Lille winger Nicolas Pepe, who is valued at £30million, has emerged as a target for Arsenal and Everton, according to The Sun.
The Ivorian is a quick winger with bags of pace and is always willing to take defenders on and exploit spaces to accommodate the strikers and full-backs. The winger could be a welcome addition to Everton but he will face stiff competition from in-form winger Theo Walcott.
Over the summer, Everton made some key signings in Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Bernardo. All three players possess bundles of Champions League experience, thus illustrating their determination to draft in players with a winning mentality to take this club to the next level.
The club also broke records to sign Richarlison over the summer. The winger, 21, has been the Toffees’ main man this season and with him manning the flanks along with Walcott, it goes without saying that Pepe would struggle to nail down a place in this side.
At the moment, Everton are not devoid of attacking options. They have back-ups in Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Loookman and Bernardo, who is already struggling to get into this side. In fact, it seems like Marco Silva is unwilling to break up the partnership between Richarlison, Walcott and Cenk Tosun.
The more these three play together, the better they can understand each other’s movement on and off the ball, giving them an attacking dimension this club have not seen for years. Provided Everton do sign Pepe, he could take time to adapt to the Premier League and Silva’s philosophy.
For Pepe, the future is certainly bright and has already made a great start, having scored five goals in eight games this season. It is evident that he has hit the ground running but Pepe would be more of a player for the future rather than making an immediate impact.
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If a player receives a solid pre-season training with a new club, he is likely to understand training schedules and demands better. While there is no question that the Lille winger has made a flying start to the current campaign, he is unlikely to improve the current Everton side.
Should the Toffees suffer a dip in form, Pepe is worth taking a punt on but at the moment, he must carry on this rich vein of form at Lille.
