‘It’s painful’: International manager upset after seeing what Arteta keeps doing to ‘incredible’ Arsenal player

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Ivory Coast manager Patrice Beaumelle has revealed that he’s hurt every time Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta leaves Nicolas Pepe on the bench.

The Gunners signed the winger from French side Lille for a club-record £72 million in 2019 (BBC). He was expected by many to come in and fire the North Londoners back into the Champions League, but things have been really difficult for him.

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Pepe, branded as an ‘incredible’ player by Mo Elneny, has played 107 times for the Gunners so far in all competitions and he has directly been involved in just 47 goals, which isn’t a fantastic return when you consider his price tag.

That, combined with Bukayo Saka’s emergence, has pushed him down the pecking order and he barely starts as a result. That has upset Beaumelle, who wants his star man to get more game time at Arsenal.

Ivory Coast manager: It’s painful to see Arteta bench Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal

Beaumelle said about Pepe, as quoted by The Mirror: “When I watch Nico on the bench, it is painful for him as he loves to play and it’s painful for me because I need my players on the pitch for club games.

“I would like him to play more as I am sure he can bring a lot of solutions.

“When you see what he brings to Ivory Coast, I would like to see him bring so much fun and joy and happiness and goals with the red jersey (of Arsenal).”

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It was always going to be difficult for Pepe to switch the French top-flight for the Premier League. Don’t get us wrong, Ligue 1 is really competitive now compared to a few years ago, but it’s still no match for the intensity of the English game.

It took a while for the Ivorian to get used to the pace of the Premier League but he managed to do it. But, once he did, opportunities didn’t come his way regularly. He has never really been given consistent starts and he’s never been able to build any sort of momentum as a result.

Pepe has started just five times in the Premier League this season, which is just not enough for a player of his calibre. His international boss is right, he needs to play more, but that’s unlikely at Arsenal.

That could open the door for a move away in the summer and it really won’t be a surprise to see Arsenal cash in on him before the start of next season.

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