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Unai Emery claims Nicolas Pepe hasn’t adjusted to the Premier League

Nicolas Pepe has recorded one Premier League assist since joining from Lille

Nicolas Pepe came into the Premier League with a lot of hype after his excellent season with Lille.

The Ivorian was the second-highest scorer in Ligue 1 last season behind Kylian Mbappe and looked like an excellent signing for Arsenal.

However, the 24-year-old has only shown bits and pieces of his quality and hasn’t put up a matchwinning performance yet.

The Ivorian has the pace to trouble most defences in the Premier League, however, his final product just hasn’t been good enough this season.

Pepe only has one assist from five Premier League games so far this season, and Unai Emery admitted that the Ivorian isn’t up to speed with the English game (h/t Sky Sports):

“He needs to adapt.

“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.”

The manager added that the team is looking at videos after training to help Pepe further, but the other players also needed to improve after a tough start to the season.

Pepe should shine with time

Adjusting to the Premier League isn’t easy as many top talents have struggled after moving to England.

Pepe was excellent for Lille in the past two campaigns, and he just needs more time to settle in the team.

Arsenal’s defensive problems also aren’t helping as they seem to concede in every game. Further, the centre-backs seem to be making elementary errors which should not take place in Premier League games.

Pepe should start for the Gunners against an impressive Aston Villa side on Sunday.

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The home side will be without Alexandre Lacazette as the Frenchman is out till October and it will be interesting to see how Pepe does against the newly-promoted side.