Per Mertesacker says Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe has ‘major potential’

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Arsenal Academy chief Per Mertesacker has delivered his verdict on the club’s record signing, Nicolas Pepe, and his future at the Emirates.

The Ivorian had a tremendous final season at Lille in 2018/19, where he showed everyone that he has the potential to become one of the best players in the world.

Pepe scored 22 goals in Ligue 1 that season – more than any other player in the country apart from Kylian Mbappe.

That caught the attention of multiple big clubs across Europe, but it was Arsenal who won the race to sign him – for an eye-watering £72 million (BBC). Things, sadly, haven’t gone smoothly for Pepe in North London.

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Per Mertesacker says Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe has major potential

Since his big-money move, Pepe has played 112 times for Arsenal, just 67 of which have come from the start. He has scored 27 goals and provided 21 assists, which isn’t awful, but it just does not justify the money Arsenal paid for him.

Last season, Pepe started just eight games in all competitions but managed to be directly involved in nine goals. Although that looks brilliant on paper, it wasn’t a great season at all for him, and there’s every chance he will be sold before the window shuts.

Mertesacker, who works very closely with Mikel Arteta and Edu behind the scenes, was asked about Pepe and his future.

The German said, as per Football Daily: “I’ve seen him throughout three weeks when I was coaching there that he has major potential. Hopefully, we can see that at Arsenal.“

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Mikel Arteta wants to sell him

Nicolas Pepe’s best position is the right-wing, but following Bukayo Saka’s emergence in that role over the last 18 months, the Ivorian just isn’t getting that spot back.

As a result, he has had to sit on the bench more often than not, but even that may prove to be difficult going forward as Arteta is reportedly on the market looking for a new wide player, and Raphinha, a player who is, in ways, similar to Pepe, was the top target for a while.

It’s clear that Arsenal and Arteta want to get rid of Pepe, and Fabrizio Romano even suggested last month that the Gunners want to use the cash they get from the Ivorian’s sale to fund a new contract for Bukayo Saka.

That has to be the priority.

Like Mertesacker, every Arsenal fan hoped to see Pepe fulfil his huge potential, but sadly for him, his time at the Emirates looks like it’s coming to an end.

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