Nicolas Pepe was one of Arsenal’s best players towards the end of last season despite starting the campaign behind Willian in the pecking order.
Arsenal signed the Ivorian for a record fee in the summer of 2019 and they had hoped he would be the goal-scoring winger that they have craved.
He flattered to deceive in his first season at the club and their fans had hoped to see better in the last campaign.
He started it behind Willian and only had his chance when the Brazilian proved to be a poor signing for the Gunners.
But he took his chance towards the end of the campaign and he was arguably Arsenal’s best attacker.
Fantasy Premier League managers have now been urged to buy him because he would likely start his next campaign how he ended the last one.
The report on the Premier League website revealed that his growing influence in the Arsenal team became even more pronounced from game week 20.
They write about Pepe: “The winger was a major influence on Arsenal’s attack in the second half of last season.
“Pepe started only four matches in the Gunners’ first 19 Gameweeks, playing just 479 minutes in total. But he then started 12 of their final 19 fixtures, turning in a series of strong displays.
“Pepe was Arsenal’s most prolific player during that period. He scored eight of his 10 goals for the season and supplied all three of his assists in that spell.
“The Ivorian ended the campaign in particularly fine form, netting twice against both Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion in the last two Gameweeks.
“The underlying numbers from Gameweek 20 onwards further highlight Pepe’s growing importance to Mikel Arteta’s team.
“His totals of 34 shots, 31 shots in the box and 15 shots on target were all more than any other Arsenal player. He finished level with Bukayo Saka (£6.5m) on 114 points in 2020/21.
“Yet while the England star can be found in 15.6 per cent of squads, Pepe is owned by just 3.6 per cent.
“Fixtures against promoted pair Brentford and Norwich City in the first four Gameweeks give Pepe the chance to build on his momentum and emerge as an early differential in Fantasy.”