MIKEL ARTETA has backed Nicolas Pepe to become a star for Arsenal.
The Ivorian winger scored just eight times in a disappointing first season in England following his £72million move from Lille last summer.
Mikel Arteta has backed Nicolas Pepe to be a success at Arsenal
But Arteta has seen enough improvement from Pepe to believe the 25-year-old can bounce back and live up to his enormous price tag.
Arteta said: “I think he has come a long way, Nico.
“Obviously we know what the club paid for him when he joined and that was obviously an extra pressure.
“He is a really good character to have around and I’m really positive we are going to have him for many years.
“But he is a player who had to adapt, it is a different style and he has a really good attitude and we can see big developments in a lot of places in his game.
“He is very settled here, he is liked by the boys.
“He is a really good character to have around and I’m really positive we are going to have him for many years and that he can perform at a really high level consistently.”
Willian’s arrival at the Emirates has seen Pepe drop to the bench in the Arsenal’s first two Premier League matches this season.
Pepe did appear as a substitute in both games and played all 90 minutes of the Gunners’ Carabao Cup third round win over Leicester on Tuesday.
The ex-Lille star even set up Christian Fuchs’ own goal which gave Arsenal the lead on the night.
Arsenal are next in action on Monday night when they go to Premier League champions Liverpool hoping to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
