Arsenal to finally see the real Nicolas Pepe next season?

You would be hard-pressed to find a player more maligned in the Arsenal squad than Nicolas Pepe, although Granit Xhaka and David Luiz have both given him a run for his money.

The Ivorian winger had a troubled start to life in north London following his £72m move. Poor performances and uninviting body language had many questioning Arsenal’s club-record signing early doors.

His debut season was underwhelming, to say the least; scoring just eight goals and registering ten assists from his 42 games in all competitions. Heading into the 2020/21 campaign, many were expecting Pepe to come of age and show why Arsenal spent so much on him.

Pepe would not start the season in the best of form in the Premier League as he was handed only two starts in the opening nine fixtures, with Willian inexplicably taking his place in the side. His confidence was down, he was lambasted on social media and a disgusting few extending to inexcusable extremities. It all came to a head against Leeds United, nine games into the season. Arsenal was coming off a 3-0 thumping at home thanks to Aston Villa and it was seen as a must-win.

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Will Arsenal and Arteta finally see the real Nicolas Pepe in 2021/22 as the Ivorian finishes the Premier League season in electric form?

After a first half in which he never got going, the pressure was on. Just six minutes into the second half is when it all went wrong. The winger headbutted Ezgjan Alioski (that would have looked good on All or Nothing) and after a VAR ruling was sent off, leaving the Gunners a man down for the remainder of the contest which fortune and resilience saw them scrape a draw from.

While his Premier League form was weak at best, his efforts in the Europa League left many wondering why he wasn’t getting it done domestically. In the first four group stage games, Pepe scored three times and had an assist to his name as his pace, trickery, and shooting ability were all on show.

His performances came the closest they had to warranting his £72m price tag. He was unplayable in spells. This is perhaps where the frustration was with the Arsenal fanbase. In the league, he could barely fire a shot, yet in Europe, he was dominating.

Much of it had to do with the fact he wasn’t starting in the Premier League and in Europe he was. However, one of the main reasons for his form in Europe was Mikel Arteta’s right-back selection.

Hector Bellerin was preferred in the league and offered little in terms of overlap to create open the space and make one-two’s with Pepe. But in the Europa League Cedric was superb at this, and it allowed Pepe to cut in on his left foot and often be one-on-one with defenders and this is where his skill shone through in that inside forward slot. Arteta seemed to finally realize the key to unlocking Pepe’s ability was who played with him on whichever side of the field he was on.

Pepe scored in three consecutive matches one two occasions in the Europa League as his form peaked. This led to many now wanting either Cedric or Calum Chambers to start at right-back due to how regularly they found him down the line and picked up positions to help open the spaces.

His 2020/21 season was leaps and bounds ahead of his debut season – in the second half of it anyway. His 16 goals and five assists in all competitions were some sort of validation of his price tag. While still not enough for some, Pepe finished the season with a bang, scoring a brace in the final two games of the Premier League season against Crystal Palace and Brighton respectively.

It leaves Arsenal fans buoyant about what they could see from their winger in the upcoming campaign. Having endured a frustrating first year and a half of his Arsenal career, Pepe finally seemed to be finding his feet.

With his pre-season form looking good – he has returned from holiday fit, sharp and quick – Pepe could finally be about to realize his potential that took Ligue 1 by storm and can set the Premier League alight.

When in full flight, he is one of the most dangerous wingers in the league, and Arsenal is a far better team when he is firing. Adding goals to his game is what is next and the indications are carrying over from last term that his end product is refining.

A fully fit, confident Nicolas Pepe is what all Gunners fans want to see. If the ending to last season is any indication, we could finally be seeing the very best of the 26-year-old at the Emirates.