There are three or four players that Arsenal have been linked with consistently over the last few months and one such player is Lille striker, Nicolas Pepe.
The latest rumours still have us in the running but behind Paris Saint Germain and Manchester United with the latter seen as the front runners despite PSG already having talks with Lille.
But that is not what struck me about this particular rumour, different clubs, including us, are seen as the front runners depending on how the wind is blowing that day, so I am not concerned about other clubs being considered the favourites right now.
What concerns me is that we are even in the running because I have to admit that I am struggling to find justification for us spending £45 Million on a player in the one area that we are well covered.
We have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette as clear first choice strikers and yes, we have seen Danny Welbeck leave – but we still have Eddie Nketiah coming through and even Alex Iwobi that can play as an out and out striker if required.
We do need to buy one more forward I admit but he does not have to take up a huge chunk of our transfer budget when that money can be better spent elsewhere.
The sort of player we need is an impact player that can be brought on when a goal is needed at the death or even a forward that can hold the ball up to slow the game down and not a player that will be unhappy playing a bit part role because you can take it to the bank that Nicolas Pepe will not be happy being a bench warmer.
I mean, would we really drop Aubameyang or Lacazette to make room for Pepe.
It would be interesting to see your comments on whether spending £45 Million on another forward is justified, mine is clearly not.