Report: Arsenal to break club transfer record with successful £72M bid for Pepe

Arsenal appear to be on the verge of breaking their club transfer fee record.

The Gunners have beaten Napoli in the race to sign Nicolas Pepe after reaching an agreement to acquire the Ivory Coast international from Lille for £72 million (€80 million), according to David Ornstein of BBC Sport.

Arsenal will pay the fee to Lille in a series of installments in order to avoid going over their summer budget, Ornstein adds. It's expected that the lucrative transfer will be completed within the next 48 hours.

Although an agreement with Pepe's representatives has yet to be finalized, it's understood he will put pen to paper on a five-year contract, according to the Guardian's Fabrizio Romano.

Napoli tabled a similar bid for the 24-year-old winger, but Pepe's representatives rejected a move to the Italian side in favor of joining the north London club.

Pepe finished as the runner-up in Ligue 1 for top scorer behind Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe after finding the back of the net 22 times. He also ranked second with 11 assists.

He joined the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations but failed to score before the nation was knocked out in the quarterfinals by eventual champions Algeria.

The fee for Pepe will eclipse the £56 million Arsenal paid to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund in 2018.

Arsenal have already completed a deal to sign Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid. The club also signed Brazilian teenage forward Gabriel Martinelli and defender William Saliba, who will be sent back to Saint-Etienne on loan for the upcoming season.