If you’re an Arsenal FC supporter, then today was definitely Nicolas Pepe arrival announcement day for you. It was well known for about a week that Arsenal had secured the acquisition of Lille winger Nicolas Pepe, and broke the club transfer fee record in doing so.
Thus, fans were on pins and needles, buzzing with excitement for the official confirmation from the club. It’s finally here now, and the north London club’s social media team certainly had a lot of fun with it. This wasn’t just the typical holding up a shirt and hovering a pen over a contract photo opps. Arsenal had a great sense of humor on Thursday about all the wait anticipation.
Our mentions since the weekend… ? pic.twitter.com/xrbWWCOVHF
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 1, 2019
#PepeIsHere featured some funny, creative tweets, and lots of interesting responses to those tweets. Nico is another example of the French connection at work at Arsenal, and he explicitly said so in his first interview as a member of the club.
Once you knew you were coming to Arsenal, who immediately sprang to mind when you thought of playing alongside the other players?
The French guys who play here. Then I also thought of Özil, the world champions, Lacazette, Aubameyang and many more. Of course, these are the players who sprang to mind because I used to watch them when I was at Lille.
Also, Lacazette used to play for Lyon and so I have had the opportunity to play against him and it will be an honour to play alongside him.
https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1156950479127101441
So, the wait is over! ?
But we want to know, how did you react when we finally announced Pepe? ?
?? #PepeIsHere ?? pic.twitter.com/EkLcfKzjaf
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 1, 2019
With Dani Ceballos acquired via loan, William Saliba signed, but then loaned back for the year and Pepe now in tow, it’s very reasonable to believe that Arsenal will find a way to get more transactions complete between now and August 8. In the meantime, happy Nicolas Pepe day to Gunners fans.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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