Nicolas Pepe will complete his £72million transfer to Arsenal "within the next 24 hours", Lille president Gerard Lopez has confirmed.
Standard Sport reported on Wednesday morning that Pepe, 24, had agreed a five-year contract with Arsenal, who will sign the winger for a club-record £72m.
Given Arsenal's restricted transfer budget this summer, the Gunners are set to pay the fee in instalments over a number of years.
Speaking to RMC Sport on Wednesday afternoon, Lopez confirmed that Pepe had opted to join Arsenal: "I think it should be done in the next 24 hours.
"It is €80m (£72m) fixed. "If we pushed this out a little longer, we could've had five or six offers.
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"In talking with Nico and his agents, they were focussed on a few clubs so we preferred to focus on two projects that interested the player."
