If you bump into an Arsenal fan in the next few days, prepare yourself for a 20-minute monologue about Nicolas Pepe.

To say Gooners are excited about his arrival right now would be something of an understatement and when they thought they'd only spend £45 million this summer, can you blame them?

It seems as though Arsenal were overcome by a bout of spontaneity, threw some cash at Lille and got their man, even if they needed to pay in increments to achieve it.

However, supporters can breathe a sigh of relief that the deal is done and dusted now, which is incredibly exciting when you consider Pepe's achievements last season.

The Ivorian was statistically the eighth best player in Europe during the 2018-19 campaign, scoring 22 goals and bagging 11 assists as Lille finished second in the table.

Pepe signs for Arsenal

And now that he'll be lining up alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, there's the potential for him to get even better in north London.

Dare we say that it seems like Arsenal and Pepe are a match made in heaven? Well, actually, we won't go that far quite yet because Chelsea might have something to say about that.

The transfer-banned Blues weren't one of the teams linked to Pepe, but have a connection with the former Lille man that hasn't been as explored as much as it probably should be.

Is Pepe actually a Chelsea fan?

That's because Pepe sensationally claimed in 2017 that a move to Stamford Bridge was a dream of his and that he couldn't see him moving to any other English team.

According to The Sun, the 24-year-old said during the television interview: "Chelsea is a club that would be a dream for me. It's the only club in England that I would sign for."

Yeh, so how's that working out for you, Nicolas?

We're only joking because, at the end of the day, Pepe made that comment during a very different time in his career and years before he was statistically one of Europe's best players.

The forward was a relative unknown at Angers and a move to the then-Diego-Costa-wielding Blues certainly wasn't on the cards like it could have been, hypothetically, this summer. 

Nevertheless, it certainly suggests that Pepe has a soft spot for Chelsea, perhaps through his youth, and might well have favoured Stamford Bridge if he had free rein.

But now that Pepe is wearing the red and white of Arsenal, you can be sure he'll do everything in his power to avenge the defeat in Baku and replace them in the Premier League top four.

Do you think Pepe will be a success at Arsenal this season? Have your say in the comments section below.