Arsenal: Mikel Arteta could unlock best Nicolas Pepe

Mikel Arteta has stated that Nicolas Pepe has terrific potential. Could the new Arsenal head coach get the best out of the undoubtedly gifted winger?

When Arsenal signed Nicolas Pepe for £72 million last summer, they were expecting to acquire one of the brightest attacking talents in world football.

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Only two players topped 20 goals and 10 assists in a top-five European league last season: Lionel Messi and Pepe. The Ivorian was wanted across the continent, his sensational performances only rising his price tag with every ripple of the net, so much so that most believed him to be out of the Gunners’ financial range. If not for Kylian Mbappe, he was the best player in Ligue 1 last year. Arsenal were signing a genuinely elite attacking player.

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And yet, since his move to north London, Pepe has never quite delivered on his potential. There have been glimpses here and there, of course. His two freekicks against Vitoria SC, his goal and assist against West Ham United. But on the whole, Pepe has not lived up the 72 million reasons that claim he should be lighting up the Premier League.

However, while he should not be entirely absolved of blame, Pepe has not been put in the most advantageous of positions. He is obviously adapting to a new team, culture, language and league, but he was also thrust into an underperforming team that put attacking players into trouble, requiring them to inject creativity and inspiration with little help. How many times did Pepe receive the ball with a defender or two immediately on his back? What is he exactly supposed to do in those situations?

Unai Emery did not help Pepe out, not one bit. Now, however, there is a new head coach in town, and he is keen to get the best out of Pepe. Speaking this week, that new head coach, Mikel Arteta, explained why he believes Pepe has not enjoyed the greatest start to life in north London:

"“I think it is a mixture of things. It was obviously a big change from France to come here. As well he found a team that at that moment probably wasn’t performing at its best. The environment wasn’t the best for him to settle. It is not only about him we are here to help him. If he is willing to learn and willing to work hard I assure he has potential to be top absolutely top.”"

As we saw against Bournemouth, in Arteta’s first game in charge, Arsenal were better able to feed passes into their attacking players in pockets of space between the defensive lines. Mesut Ozil received possession in dangerous areas time and again because of the greater positioning of the team and distribution from deep. This comes from smart coaching, which Pepe will undoubtedly benefit from.

Perhaps, then, under new management, in a new system, Arsenal might finally get to witness the best version of Nicolas Pepe. And if they do, those 72 million reasons why he was failing will quickly feel very small indeed.