Some Arsenal fans on Twitter believe that Mikel Arteta might be bringing Nicolas Pepe back into his first XI for a Premier League game this weekend.
The £72 million winger has only started one league game for Arsenal so far this season.
Willian and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the two players Arteta uses most often in the wide positions.
But the Brazilian winger could potentially be out of action for the next two weeks.
The former Chelsea star, who earns £220,000 per week with the Gunners, jetted off to Dubai during the international break and now he needs to test negative for the virus before he’s allowed return to Arsenal’s training base at London Colney [The Telegraph].
Arteta’s side face Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday and it’s a short turnaround time for Willian, even if he is given the all-clear to join up with his team-mates again.
And some fans of the North London club believe that the 38-year-old coach might be recalling Pepe for the trip to West Yorkshire.
Here’s how they reacted to the Willian development:
If we’re honest, Pepe deserves to start ahead of Willian either way.
The Ivory Coast star has impressed in Europa League outings in recent months but for whatever reason, Arteta doesn’t rate him enough to use Pepe in the Premier League.
To start only once in this competition is insane due to the goalscoring issues that Arsenal have and, if he does make the first XI for Sunday, it’ll be fascinating to see how he fares.
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