A report by the Metro on Liverpool’s supposed interest in Nicolas Pepe claims that Chelsea have identified him as a potential Eden Hazard successor.
There’s no guarantee that Hazard will be at Chelsea come the start of next season. His contract will have just a year left to run in the summer, with childhood hero Zinedine Zidane also returning to Real Madrid.
While losing the Belgian would be a hammer blow to our chances of competing short-term, it would provide us with an opportunity to build the next generation of Chelsea.
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One player who could be a part of that, per the Metro, is Nicolas Pepe, who has been a revelation for Ligue 1 outfit Lille this term, scoring 20 goals in 35 appearances.
Both Arsenal and Liverpool are also mentioned as potential suitors in the report, but if Chelsea banked a considerable sum through the sale of Hazard, we could blow them all out of the water.
Liverpool have a significant amount of quality out-wide anyway, while Arsenal may well be stuck in the Europa League once again next term. He’d have little reason to reject us for either of them.
Pepe would be the perfect replacement for Hazard, with his direct goal contributions and ability carry the ball certainly comparable to the Belgian. Let’s see what happens.
