Arsenal boss Unai Emery has called for a quick ‘adaptation’ from Nicolas Pepe after his slow start to life in the Premier League.
There were lofty expectations of the Ivory Coast international following his club-record £72 million move to Arsenal in the summer, having scored 22 goals and provided 11 assists for Lille last season. However, after five league games in the English top-flight, he is yet to find the net, and has just one assist to his name, although he has completed the most take-ons.
While the 24-year-old isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last to initially struggle following a big-money move to the Premier League, Gunners boss Emery is keen to help his new signing to adapt as quickly as possible.
“He needs more adaptation,” said Emery in his pre-match press conference. “He is playing well but progressively we know there is going to be more from him to help us and I want him to take the last step quickly in adapting for us.
Most take-ons completed in the Premier League after gameweek five:
🇨🇮 Nicolas Pepe (19)
🏴 James Maddison (17)
🇨🇮 Wilfried Zaha (17)
🇦🇷 Manuel Lanzini (17)
🇲🇦 Sofiane Boufal (15)Nicolas Pepe leads the way. 🕺 pic.twitter.com/jxvnRTD958
— Squawka (@Squawka) September 16, 2019
“We are working with him – after training we are watching individual videos with him.
“He is playing well but also we need in our organisation to be strong with every player to improve a lot.
“We are working with him first for that adaptation after the training now, also individually we are watching individual videos with him, also to push him to achieve the details tactically.
“We need him because he is playing well but also we need in our organisation to be strong with every player to improve a lot.”
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