Faced with the possibility of leaving Arsenal for good this summer, Ivorian winger Nicolas Pépé has spoken out on his relationship with club boss Mikel Arteta and some of the misconceptions that surrounded his time under the Spanish tactician which led to his loan move away to OGC Nice.
The 28-year-old former LOSC Lille standout arrived in north London in the summer of 2019 during Unai Emery’s tenure and subsequently failed to kick on after the arrival of Arteta, but a supposed lack of faith and/or trust was not a leading factor.
According to Pépé in quotes sourced by Get French Football, Arteta instead is said to have had belief in the Ivorian as well as seeing him as a player that boasts incredible potential.
Arsenal’s Nicolas Pépé (28) has tackled misperceptions surrounding his relationship with Mikel Arteta:
“He really believed in me. He said I had incredible potential, so we need to extract that potential.” (C)https://t.co/bhFmUxHvoN
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) June 30, 2023
“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. 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.”
“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 labeled 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,”
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