‘This is what he wants’: Arteta says one Arsenal player ‘has not been happy’

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta faced the media today ahead of his side’s Boxing Day clash against Norwich City.

The Gunners are high on confidence having climbed up to fourth in the Premier League table. Arteta has a proper team at his disposal now and most of his starters are performing consistently at the highest level.

That, however, has frustrated some of Arsenal’s other players, who haven’t played a lot as a result. Club-record signing Nicolas Pepe is one of them.

The Ivorian hasn’t started a Premier League game since October and he has been given just 12 minutes of game time in the competition over the last 10 games. Arteta was quizzed about him and the Arsenal boss confirmed that Pepe is not happy.

Arteta: Lack of game time has made Nicolas Pepe unhappy

Arteta said about Nicolas Pepe in his press conference today, as per Arsenal.com: “A player that doesn’t play, if he’s happy you have a big problem and Nico has not been happy.

“He’s been trying to challenge us and asking us for more minutes because this is what he wants to do and rightly so.

“This is the attitude that we want from our players.”

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Pepe impressed last night

The ex-Lille man was handed a rare start by Arteta in the quarterfinal of the Carabao Cup against Sunderland last night. Pepe started slowly, but he grew into the game and finished with a goal and two assists.

The 26-year-old now has to find consistency in his game, but it’s easier said than done. With Bukayo Saka performing brilliantly for Arsenal, the Ivorian will not get into the Premier League side anytime soon.

Pepe will have to rely on the cup competitions to prove his worth and he did just that yesterday.

However, if he dreams of starting games every single week, his best option would be to leave Arsenal. That would be a shame as he’s so talented, but it may just be the best thing for all parties at the end of this season – unless Pepe is willing to play second-fiddle to Saka more often than not.