KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Liverpool 'make contact with Lille over Nicolas Pepe' as the

Liverpool have reportedly made contact with Lille as they look to pip their Premier League rivals to the signing of striker Nicolas Pepe.


It was claimed last week that Chelsea were ready to splash £70million on the 23-year-old after identifying him as their No 1 target to replace Eden Hazard, who could move to Real Madrid.

But now reports in France suggest Liverpool have stolen a march in the race for Pepe's signature by asking Lille about his availability.

Liverpool have reportedly made contact with Lille as they look to sign striker Nicolas Pepe
Liverpool have reportedly made contact with Lille as they look to sign striker Nicolas Pepe
This season the 23- year-old has netted 20 times and picked up 14 assists in 36 appearances
This season the 23- year-old has netted 20 times and picked up 14 assists in 36 appearances
That return has brought him to the attention of clubs around Europe, who will be scrambling to add reinforcements when the summer transfer window opens at the end of the season.

Pepe's goalscoring form has also helped Lille up to second in the Ligue 1 standings and club president Gerard Lopez admits they will struggle to prevent him leaving.

'Four or five players will be leaving this summer,' he told Telefoot.

'All clubs are forced to balance their accounts except perhaps one. I would say yes, it is sure he (Pepe) will leave.

'He enters a price range that can no longer be paid. There is a career choice to make for him, I think he will have the choice.'

Not seen him play but those are impressive figures for a one team league for a player not playing for that team.

Right age and this story has been doing the rounds for a few days now. Could be the usual end of season hawking a player around by his club trying to screw the most money out of someone.

Usual rules apply. If he is a worker and a Klopp style player he has a chance of playing for us. If a better cheaper option for the team is found elsewhere then that player will get the opportunity instead.

Figures are impressive, hard to judge the French league with PSG dominating it, sounds like it will take huge money to get him with the big clubs interested, I'm not sure if FSG would pay the money required for a relatively unproven player.

We paid 50 million to buy Fabinho from the same league. Chelsea bought Hazard from that same league.

The French league has produced far better players than the EPL, there is no comparison

Fekir has just ditched his Agent because he blames him for the breakdown of his transfer to us. He is trying to push for the transfer to happen again this summer.

I think the bird has flown on us igniting the Fekir deal unless we can get him at a much cheaper price. He's been much less effective this season with only 9 goals and 5 assists for Lyon compared to last season when he had 18 goals and 8 assists. He's also had quite a bit of time injured this season with 5 different individual spells on the sidelines.

Not been following him much this season but seen his name pop up on a couple of results. But if he has had injuries this season that was exactly what we didn't like about his record in the first place. It would be like going back to a lit firework if we went back now.

Zaha appears to be pushing for a move, he would really fit into our front 3, he has pace & power and can score a goal with lots of PL experience. I know it didn't work out for him at UTD but he was very young and in a changing team with Fergy retiring, I think he would be a good buy and one of the few players who could cover and become part of the front 3.

I think Palace would want too much money for Zaha, his contract runs until 2023. I'd also be concerned about the 2 knee injuries from last season where he was out for 118 days.

26 and still too raw. He's a good dribbler, and creative, but his final ball is lacking.

I think Klopp will want somebody in their very early twenties with room for improvement unless he can get another Salah type player with their contract running down and still to hit their prime.

Werner is probably Klopp's No 1 target for the summer. He ticks all the boxes for a Klopp type player.

Kerching! Spot on.
This is why we get linked with Werner and now Brandt. Previously it was with Pulisic.
Right age, experience level, good price, resale value. They tick a lot of boxes.

Someone like Zaha is a real gamble for the £70m Palace would want. We are not paying that for a player who is not going to be a guaranteed starter.

alot of them are penalties (8)

for the right price i would take him

I think Zaha will be less of a gamble as he has performed in the EPL.

Ok we can disagree on this but for around £70m who would he feasibly replace on a regular basis without weakening the side? Would we accommodate him at the expense of what has brought us this far this season with a club record points haul?

We need a pacy and versatile forward who can slot in for any of our regular starters and not weaken our goal threat. I expected that Sturridge would fit that bill in this outgoing season but he hasn't measured up, when given the chance, which admittedly were scarce.
We also need backup/ competition for Robertson, in addition to a creative attacking midfielder. I'd be happy with those three positions being filled by quality additions, for the upcoming season, assuming we don't lose any of our regular starters and backups.

I agree, I think Zaha is one of the few PL players we could get who would fit into our system and deliver, he want's CL football, so he is looking for a move. If we can get him for a good price, say around £50 million, I think he would be a good buy as he can play across the front line and gets goals, remember, we sold Benteke & Sakho to Palace for about £60 million, so we do owe them abit extra lol

I would love us to get Son from Tottenham, he would really fit our system, but I can't see them selling, especially to a rival, maybe if they don't get CL if would be worth a go?

If available, Son over Zaha any day.

Yes a far better finisher and a better attitude. For pace he is like a younger Vardy.