Former Arsenal defender, Lauren has urged Mikel Arteta not to sell Nicolas Pepe even though the former Lille man has continued to underperform.
Pepe joined the Gunners in the summer of 2019 and had an underwhelming first campaign in England.
This season was supposed to be the campaign that he comes of age, but the attacker has continued to struggle to impress.
Arteta has built his attack without him, and the Gunners are doing just fine at the moment with him on the bench.
There have been talks of the club selling him, but Lauren says it isn’t a good thing to do and that the Gunners will need him.
He says that there are some games that they will need a player to run at the defence and Pepe will come in handy for them.
‘Arsenal need a full squad and with Pepe, I believe that there are some games where he will be better suited to implement his style of play,’ Lauren said as quoted by the Metro.
‘When you need quick transitions, you will need a player like Pepe. His style of play is quicker, more attacking and taking on players so when Arsenal need to transition, Pepe is an option.
‘When you play in that kind of way, you need quick players and I believe that from now on to the end of the season, there will be some games that they cannot implement the same game plan by suffocating the opponent in their half, they will need to adapt to transition from the back and for that, they will need Pepe.
‘There is still a reason to keep Pepe at the club. The stronger squad Arsenal have the less problems you get until the end of the season because they need to balance the team and prepare for injuries.’
Time is running out on the Ivorian to prove that he can make it at the Emirates, else Arsenal may sell him.
I’m sure there are no thoughts on selling him this window and will perhaps be addressed in the summer. I’m hoping he’s tried in a more central position behind the centre forward or farther left as it’s not working with him on the right.
OT Man U have reached 40 points so are safe from relegation 😜
It’s true, a good back up to saka
O think Pepe’s problem is not about positions, it’s more of attitude and the mindset of not ready to learn and work with other players. It shows in his reactions anytime he scores. He loses ball often, he doesn’t pass the ball well, he doesn’t release the ball to the right players at the right time. To save his arsenal career he needs to man up
I think *
Arteta is not innovative for me. He should try Pepe in the middle and play AMN as a defensive midfielder
Yeah i can imagine pepe in the middle dribbling and holding on to the ball (then losing it) instead of releasing a pass to someone in a better position
We won’t sell Pepe for more than £35m.
Pepe’s game does not improve. But as long as Arteta is the Manager, the only decision that he can take is to keep him. Pepe’s mindset is very wrong because if he was willing to change, his game would be better by now
The problem is Arteta and he is kind of body some players and humiliates others plus look all French players like Guenduzi.William’Pepe you have he is kind of picking on them
Spot on Declan.
I think Lauren is spot on. Its all about the style of play. Anyone who watched Pepe in the french league will know that he thrived in a counter attacking or direct kind of play. Arsenal spend way too much time passing sideways, working from the back etc and as long as Arsenal play this way then Pepe will never succeed at Arsenal. I would like to see Pepe and Partey in the same team for a few games. Partey has the tendency to release the ball from the midfield early to the forwards and this is what Pepe ( and all our forwards) need