Mikel Arteta has explained Nicolas Pepe’s absence from Arsenal’s pre-season tour (Picture: Getty)
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that an injury ruled Nicolas Pepe out of Arsenal’s pre-season tour of America.
The Ivory Coast international spent last season on loan at Nice where he managed just 27 appearances in all competitions, scoring a modest eight goals.
Arsenal spent a then club-record £72million to sign the winger from Lille in the summer of 2019 but he demonstrated only flashes of the potential that convinced the Gunners to sign him from the Ligue 1 club.
Bukayo Saka’s emergence almost immediately relegated Pepe in Arteta’s pecking order and there appears no way back for him with just a year left on his current contract at Arsenal.
‘At the moment he is recovering from an injury which is why he’s not here,’ Arteta explained at a press conference ahead of tonight’s friendly against Manchester United.
‘He had a spell on loan and obviously we wanted to get much more than we got from that loan spell.
‘We have to see when we come back, understand what the plans are and make the right decision for him.’
Nicolas Pepe spent last season on loan at Nice (Picture: Getty)
Speaking earlier this month, meanwhile, Pepe confirmed his inteintion to Arsenal and has dismissed claims he had a poor relationship with Arteta
‘I will return to Arsenal. I was loaned without an option to buy so I have to go back to Arsenal,’ Pepe told YouTube channel Colinterview..
‘I don’t know [about my future] yet. When I get back, I’ll speak with the coach and everyone and see what everyone’s ideas are and then we’ll make a decision.’
On his relationship with Arteta, he continued: ‘People say that he identified me as a player that wasn’t up to the level in his team, in his philosophy. It’s completely false.
‘When he arrived, he had Manchester City’s philosophy. He had a squad that was filled with quality and backups in every position. When he spoke to me, he said he counted on me, he wanted me to do this or that, and you have to focus on that.
Pepe says he learned a lot working under Arteta (Picture: Getty)
‘He improved me in every way. He spoke to me the whole time, I watched videos with his assistants all the time. He really believed in me. He said I had incredible potential, so we need to extract that potential.
‘At the end of the first season, he spoke with me and told me to do this or that. The second season comes along, I was a substitute. I was going mad. How could I be a substitute when he said he counted on me? Everything is spinning in your head.
‘I was a substitute for [what felt like] 10 matches. It was at the time when they signed Willian. He is a number 10 or a winger. But he plays on the wing for like 11 or 12 matches in a row. My head turned, knowing that I had spoken with the coach and it wasn’t like that.
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‘But that improved in the sense that he gave me a chance, I scored against Sheffield United at the Emirates. The confidence started to come back. I started to speak better, but it was a bit cold. I started to speak to agents, but we didn’t see each other like before. But it improved.
‘It’s not true that he labelled me. Not true at all. He helped me in every way, on a tactical level, in terms of game intelligence because his philosophy requires a lot of intelligence.
‘He knew my style of play wasn’t waiting in possession, it was cutting inside, it wasn’t waiting out on the right. Before, I was a bit freer. I had to wait in my zone, and I wasn’t like that before. These are parts of my game that he tried to improve. He always wanted to help me with all of that.’
MORE : Mikel Arteta provides update on Thomas Partey amid Arsenal transfer speculation
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What a waste of talent.
