Wenger - Much more to come from Gervinho

Arsene Wenger believes the best is yet to come from the in-form Gervinho.

The Ivorian has been superb in recent weeks since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, scoring twice and claiming three assists.

 Wenger believes the key to his rejuvenation was the rest he was given after competing in South Africa.

“When you see his stats they are outstanding,” the manager told the official matchday programme. “On Saturday [against West Brom] he again gave an assist and he has the ability that’s very difficult to find, to pass people, to go behind defenders and to be very agile and quick.

“He has gone through a difficult time but it is not easy for a player to play in the Champions League, the Premier League and go to the Africa Cup of Nations and then come back at the same level.

“He goes always through a bad patch when he comes back from the Africa Cup of Nations, and that’s why I made him recover for a while. Now he’s back to his best.”

While Wenger has been pleased with Gervinho’s progress, he feels there is much more to come from him.

“The things he can improve are of course the quality of his finishing, but that is linked with confidence,” he said.

“I believe he has improved his finishing because he worked on it in training, but for a while it was a more a consequence of lack of confidence than lack of quality.

“He rushed some chances, which means you want to get quickly rid of it rather than taking it in a confident way. Since he has found his confidence you see his finishing is clinical as well.”