Nicolas Pepe joined Arsenal in a club-record deal last summer for a fee in excess of £70 Milion, but has so far failed to live up to the price-tag.
The Ivory Coast international hasn’t been a complete failure however, scoring six goals so far and showing glimpses of his brilliance in a number of games.
The consistency is certainly not there yet, nor has he earned the right to start every game for our star-studded team, but some players just need that little extra time to adjust to the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta is now set on giving Pepe all the tools he needs to make his mark in our famous red shirt.
“First of all he needs the right structure behind him to be able to provide the moments of quality and winning games, whether it’s assists, goals, dribbles or whatever it is,” Arteta stated.
“Afterwards he needs to have a much clearer picture of the things that are happening on the pitch, why they are happening and how he can solve them. I think he’s in the process of doing that.
“He hasn’t played 12 or 15 games in a row, which is a massive thing for a player in those positions which are more difficult on the pitch to make an impact in games, he needs to earn that with his performances.
“He was in France and was one of the biggest stars in the league. He made an incredible year. He comes here and a lot of people didn’t even know him and you paid that price tag. So for him to put his brain into this picture and solve all this is not easy. And he’s a really young player.”
Arteta has been using the 24 year-old much more regularly in recent matches, and the whole team seems to be growing in confidence, with results to show, and I’m quite looking forward to seeing him come out of his shell next season, with Arteta likely to relish having had a full pre-season to work together.
Does anyone doubt that Pepe has the tools to become a top Premier League player? Does he deserve to be a regular starter on his current performances.
Patrick