Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta says he has outlined his plans to improve Ivory Coast international Nicholas Pepe to become one of the best winger in the Premir League.
The 24-year-old signed a record fee of £72m for Gunners from Lille last summer, but have not been able to live up to expectation since joining the London club.
The Ivorian right-winger has a lot of potentials which many people believed need to work on to become a better player. The star has speed with skill and difficulty for a lot of defenders to contain him when the ball is in his left foot. Arteta in an interview with Mirro said“It’s part of his development,”
“He needs to open more doors to be more unpredictable for the opponent and give more options as well offensively to us.”
“He’s working on it, he will improve, he will get better. He’s got the talent, immense quality and he’s willing to do it.”
The Gunners will be hoping that Pepe can start to round off his game soon as they hope to seriously contend for a Champions League spot this season.
Pepe has shown that he has the ability to take on almost any player in the league, the star’s end product does leave a lot to be desired for, however.
Arteta said he will work one-on-one with Pepe to improve his play on the wing:
“I’ll show him footage of what we want and on the training ground, I will make him defend in situations where he is full-back and I am the winger.
“You have to feel the moment when the ball is here where you are weak and depending on the step that you take, how that affects the opponent every time, where the spaces are for the strikers, where the strikers want the ball in certain areas, it’s a process.”
The 24-year-old has scored four goals and registered six assists from 24 Premier League appearances so far this season for Arsenal
NICHOLAS PEPE Edit I made. 🔴⚪🔥🔥
— MAJID (@ArsenalAtHeartt) March 6, 2020
Please retweet so more people can see it. Promise it wont let u down. pic.twitter.com/gFgBONGXGY
“I'll show him footage of what we want and on the training ground I will make him defend in situations where he is full-back and I am the winger. He needs to know where are the spaces for the strikers and when they want the ball delivered in certain areas.”
— DailyAFC™ (@DailyAFC) March 9, 2020
- Mikel Arteta pic.twitter.com/P2NeAj8sYQ