Mikel Arteta has told Football London that Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe has not been happy at the Emirates Stadium recently.
Not impressed
Pepe has featured just once in Arsenal’s last 10 Premier League matches, after slipping further and further down the pecking order.
He did serve up a reminder of the quality that he possesses in the League Cup in midweek though.
Pepe scored and claimed two assists as Arsenal strolled to a 5-1 victory over Sunderland in cup competition.
It was a rare start for the Ivorian winger, who Arteta admits is desperate for more game time.
“A player that doesn’t play, if he’s happy we have a big problem. Nico has not been happy,” Arteta said.
“He’s been trying to challenge us and asking for more minutes because this is what he wants to do. Rightly so and this is the attitude we want from our players.”
Needing an exit?
Whether Pepe will actually be able to receive the regular football he appears to want at Arsenal is very much up for debate.
The Gunners’ record signing can hardly complain that he hasn’t had enough opportunities.
The problem for Pepe is that he simply hasn’t delivered with enough consistency to earn a regular spot.
And with Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli in such fine form it is difficult to see where he slots in right now, even after his excellent showing in midweek.
It may be that Pepe simply has to leave Arsenal in January to receive the game time that he so desperately craves, with Football London suggesting that Arteta would be open to offloading the wide-man now.
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