Lille are set to sell Arsenal linked Nicolas Pepe in the summer in order to raise funds to service their debt and buy players in the transfer market.
The 23-year-old attacker’s future at Lille has been the subject of speculation since last summer and the club have already rejected big money offers for the Ivorian.
Arsenal have been long term admirers of Pepe and are believed to be interested in him, while he has also been on the radar of clubs such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Lille are expected to ask for a fee in excess of €80m and, according to French sports daily L’Equipe, they have more or less decided to let him go in the summer.
The French club have managed to reduce their debt to around €58m, but the club still need to raise funds to buy players at the end of the season.
Lille have already targeted raising anywhere between €100m to €120m in the summer, with three to four players believed to be on the chopping block.
And Pepe is one of the key players the club are prepared to sell in order to raise the money for their own transfer market plans.
