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.