Nicolas Pepe is finally hitting his best form for Arsenal

Nicolas Pepe continued his outstanding recent form on Wednesday night, as his brace secured a 3-1 win for Arsenal against Crystal Palace.

When Pepe signed for Arsenal in 2019, he smashed the previous transfer record for The Gunners by over ten million euros, meaning that a lot of pressure was rightly about to fall onto the Ivorian’s shoulders. Disappointingly for Arsenal and their fans, the winger really struggled to hit the ground running in his first Premier League season, only managing 11 goal contributions in his 31 league games.

This season Pepe again struggled at the beginning of the season, however he managed to make a great impression in the Europa League as he notched up ten 10 goal contributions in only 13 games.

His efforts in Europe earned him a lot more starts in the Premier League towards the end of the season. Pepe has certainly given Mikel Arteta a selection headache ahead of next season as well as a lot to consider in the transfer window, as the winger scored seven in his last 12 starts for The Gunners, finally starting to prove the price tag worth it.

Two of those goals came in his last match against Crystal Palace. His first came just after the half hour mark, as he pounced on a cross in the middle of the box to poke in his seventh goal of the season from close range. Throughout the game Pepe dazzled as he showed his most favoured attribute of his dribbling skills down the right wing, dancing around Tyrick Mitchell at any opportunity.

The second goal came really late in the game however it was more than worth the wait. Pepe sealed all three points for The Gunners as he grabbed their third of the game, coming into the box from the right and after beating two players, he fired a low shot into the bottom left corner from close range, leaving Guaita no chance in net.

One man full of praise for the man of the match on Wednesday was Arsenal boss Arteta:

‘Well, I am very encouraged and positive to think that way for two reasons. One because he’s come a long way in terms of consistency and what he’s producing in games, not just in the Premier League but what he’s done in Europe this season.

‘And the second one because it’s in his mindset. He wants to look at every action, he wants to look at every post-match reflection that we do with him, he wants to work and he wants to be the best. When that happens and he has the talent that he has I think it’s a really good mixture.’

Pepe certainly has proved his worth over recent months however he has a lot to compete with in the current squad. Arteta will also look to the transfer market in the Summer to improve on his squad who severely unperformed this season. With the form he has been in of late however, Pepe could play a pivotal part in Arsenal’s bid for Europe next season.

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