Bayern Munich should strongly consider signing Nicolas Pepe
Bayern Munich may not be able to pry Leroy Sane away from Manchester City, but Nicolas Pepe could be an ideal goal-scoring option on the wing for the Bundesliga champions.
After signing Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard to add some more youth to their defense, Bayern Munich are in desperate need of a winger or two this summer. Their top target is Leroy Sane, but it will take a king’s ransom to coax him away from Manchester City, where he appears to be quite happy.
The Bundesliga champions still have a number of talented wingers to choose from, such as 18-year-old Chelsea standout Callum Hudson-Odoi. But one strong option that they could realistically purchase with far less hassle than Hudson-Odoi and Sane is Nicolas Pepe.
Last season, Pepe had a breakout campaign for Lille, scoring 22 times and recording 11 assists as one of Ligue 1’s top players. Pepe is the best pure goal-scorer available at the position on the open market, and that might make him especially attractive to Bayern.
In 2018-2019, Bayern had just two players who scored double-digit league goals. Robert Lewandowski led the way with 22, and breakout star Serge Gnabry scored 10 times from the wing.
Pepe isn’t quite on Gnabry’s level, but he may be an even better scoring threat. The man has a lethal shot, hence why only Kylian Mbappe, who is one of the best young players in the history of the sport, scored more goals in Ligue 1 than him.
Although BILD’s ace reporter Christian Falk has been adamant that Bayern will not seriously pursue Pepe this summer, that could be a misstep from Bayern’s brass. They need a true difference-maker at one of the wide positions, especially given Kingsley Coman’s injury history and his own lack of a goal-scoring record. Yes, Coman is world-class, but Bayern need a quality third winger in order to be truly competitive in the Champions League.
Bayern also have to be worried about the depth of attacking talent that Borussia Dortmund have assembled, now that they’ve purchased Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brandt this summer to go with Jadon Sancho, Mario Götze, and Marco Reus in the midfield or wide positions.
Based on how he played last season, Pepe is likely even better than both Hazard and Brandt, which speaks to his quality. It takes a special player on the wing to score 22 goals and assist 11 times in a single season, and that’s a dynamic Bayern need as they look to build a dominant team for the future.
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Furthermore, Pepe is still just 24 and coming off of the best season of his career. This is a player who can make an impact in the Bundesliga for years to come if purchased, and while he would come at a high price, he’d only be marginally more expensive than Hudson-Odoi. And he’d also be considerably cheaper than Sane, who is the other proven player Bayern have been pursuing on the wing.
Sure, Pepe may be the Plan B to Sane, but Ligue 1’s second-best overall scorer behind Mbappe is absolutely a high-end Plan B. For many great teams, Pepe would qualify as a bona fide “Plan A”.