ARJEN ROBBEN

Football club Bayern Munich, are lining up a summer swoop fooLOSC Lille forward Nicolas Pepe, as a replacement for the ageing Arjen Robben. Robben who is currently in his 10th season with the Bavarians, and at the age of 35. With the look of things, his playing days at Bayern are now numbered. Having that in mind, the club are now on a scouting mission for a potential replacement for the Dutchman, and a number of names have been flying around.

Their interest in Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson- Odoi was made known to thepublic in January, but after four rebuffed offer, they were unable to secure their target, as Chelsea maintained the 18-year-old wasn’t for sale. Reports have also linked the reigning Bundesliga champions to the signing of Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, and now a new name has been added to the list. According to media reports, the Munich based club are lining up a bid for Lille forward Pepe following the 23-year- old’s blistering start to the Ligue 1 season.

It is no news that PSG have dominatedproceedings in the French league so far this campaign.  This has been highlighted by the fact that they have three of the league’s top four goal scorers on their team.

Pepe is the player who is sandwiched between Edison Cavani and Neymar in third place on the scorer’s chart with 16 goals in 26 league appearances. With the Ivory Coast international also bagging eight assists in that period. Despite his blistering performances for Lille,reports have it that the player feels he is ready to take his career to the next level by moving to a top club in Europe, while Lille may well be willing to cash in on their most priced asset, using his current contract which runs until 2022 as a bait to help secure a potential club-record fee for Pepe.

The Ivorian winger has similar characteristics to Robben, using his stunning pace down either flanks, and often cuts inside using his preferred left foot. He’s helped Lille up to second in the Ligue 1 table, and will be hoping to finish strong in what has already been a breakthrough season.