Nicolas Pepe is finding his feet in his first season in the Premier League.
The Ivory Coast international became our record transfer last summer after joining from Lille and has since made 21 appearances in the top flight, scoring three times.
Mikel Arteta has been working with the winger – and has revealed how we can get the best out of Pepe.
“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,” our head coach said.
“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.”
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