How Arsenal are paying just £20m transfer fee up front and another £52m over five years to land Pepe on their measly budget

ARSENAL are paying just £20million up front for Nicolas Pepe - paying the remaining £52m in instalments over the next five years.

The Lille winger, 24, is set to undergo a medical at the club later this week after the Gunners finally succeeded with an audacious offer.

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Unai Emery and Co have somehow managed to mastermind a deal where they will pay just 28 PER CENT of the overall £72m this summer.

The rest will be spread out in payments running until 2024 - although it is unclear as to whether that will be broken down into monthly or annual payments.

The deal will allow Arsenal to free up more transfer funds this summer in order to conclude a deal for Kieran Tierney and help Lille navigate FFP rules in France over the next few years.

The Gunners have just £45m to work with this summer - a fraction of the rest of the Premier League's top six clubs.

WHAT'S LEFT IN THE BANK?

The club have already brought in Gabriel Martinelli for £6m, are said to have paid £15m for the year-long loan of Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid and are paying just £3m of their £27m total fee for William Saliba.

In theory, Emery should have just £21m left to work with - with Celtic demanding at least £25m for left-back Tierney.

Arsenal initially offered just £15m for Tierney and are also thought to have offered an instalments deal to the Scottish champions.

With the Pepe deal set to cost a fraction up front, Arsenal could now offer around £20m plus instalments - which is far more likely to succeed.

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Alternatively, the Gunners could sell a player in order to boost their budget - with Monaco interested in £27.5m-rated flop Shkodran Mustafi.

That could allow Arsenal to bid the full £25m for Tierney with Emery landing almost every one of his top targets this summer.

Arsenal had hoped to sign Pepe's international team-mate Wilfried Zaha this summer, but gave up the cause with Crystal Palace stubbornly refusing to let him leave.

Everton now appear to be favourites for the Ivorian, but saw a £55m bid rejected by the Eagles.