Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe hasn’t quite lived up to his billing in North London, but he is at least impressing right now.
The Gunners splashed out a huge £72million to sign Pepe from Lille in 2019, having seem him terrorise French defences.
Pepe found life much harder in England, and has been in and out of the Arsenal side this season with Mikel Arteta less than convinced.
The Ivorian then picked up a petulant red card at Leeds United back in November, and some thought that would be the end of Pepe as a potential key man at the Emirates Stadium.
However, Pepe has knuckled down and worked hard, turning in a strong performance at Leicester City on Sunday as he scored the third goal in a 3-1 win.
Pepe was handed a chance to start and took it well, having also impressed against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton in recent weeks.
The 25-year-old is going the right way about saving his Arsenal career, and he has now received praise from Gunners legend Ian Wright.
Wright has told The Review Show on Optus Spot that he thinks Pepe is working ‘a lot harder’ following his red card at Leeds, and now looks to have more confidence.
Wright has added that Pepe and Cedric are forming a surprise partnership down the right flank, two players that Arsenal fans wouldn’t have expected to become important in tandem together given the criticism levelled at both players in recent times.
“Since the red card, he’s worked a lot harder,” Wright said. “He’s got a lot more confidence, it is like the manager has said ‘get on the ball, and do your stuff’. He’s taking people on, working harder and then when he gets the ball, he’s being a lot more positive.”
“He seems to have a certain amount of confidence, which I didn’t see earlier in the season. His value is nothing to do with him, you use him how he wants to be used. Him and Cedric have got a really good thing going,” he added.
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