Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has claimed that he has seen a "different" version of Nicolas Pepe since the Africa Cup of Nations.
The £72m attacker has been little more than a bit-part player for the Gunners in the 2021-22 season, registering two goals and five assists in 12 games across all tournaments.
Only one of those assists has come in the Premier League, where Pepe has only started five matches as Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka remain ahead of him in the pecking order.
Pepe managed to bag two goals and an assist in four AFCON games for the Ivory Coast, though, and Arteta believes that the 26-year-old has changed for the better.
"Since he has come back from AFCON I think I have seen a different Nico as well. I don't know what it is, probably he has realised the importance of the end of the season for him," Arteta told reporters ahead of Saturday's clash with Brentford.
"He had a brilliant end of the season last year. He can replicate that. We need him at his best because everybody is going to contribute. We are a really short squad at the moment and we need it and hopefully he has understood that we want to play him.
"The way he has trained. His efficiency in training, his application. His energy has changed. I don't know what it is. I think he felt important again.
"I don't want to have a player like him sitting on the bench and not using him and the moment I have chances, I want to give him a chance."
Pepe has amassed a total of 26 goals and 20 assists in 101 games for the Gunners and sees his Emirates deal expire in the summer of 2024.
Ben Knapton
