Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has lavished praise on Arsenal target Nicolas Pepe and believes he is the kind of player Ligue 1 needs.

Pepe has been in sensational form this season for Lille, scoring 17 goals in 28 Ligue 1 games, and has been tipped to leave the French club in the summer on a big money deal.




Clubs such as Arsenal have been keeping an eye on him and even Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reportedly shown an interest in snaring him away from Lille.

Drogba has been left impressed by Pepe’s performances this season and he is sure that the Ivorian will exceed his own best season in Ligue 1, where he scored 19 goals in the 2003/04 campaign for Marseille.
 


The Chelsea legend feels Pepe is a complete player who has pace to burn and admits that he has been hearing about the forward for a while as the Lille star has also been part of the Ivory Coast team for some time.

Drogba told LFP.fr: “He has very good statistics and he will easily exceed my goals record in Ligue 1.
 

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“He is fast and a complete and efficient player.

"We need players like him in Ligue 1.

“I have been hearing about him for some time, especially because he has been part of the Ivorian national team for several years.”

Lille could cash in on Pepe in the summer as they look to raise funds.