Arteta reflects on Nicolas Pepe’s future at the club

has been struggling to find his perfect form since leaving

to join

on a record-breaking £72 million deal in the summer of 2019.

The Ivory Coast international has only seen 122 minutes of Premier League game-play since October, and his lack of action has sparked many rumors regarding a possible move away from the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, however, disregards the speculations about Pepe’s future, saying the 26-year-old will continue to perform for the Londoners.

Asked whether the club is open to offers for the Ivorian winger, Arteta said:

“No, and it is not the moment to talk about that either. We are interested in Nico performing at the level that he can do.

“He had some really good moments since I have been here, some moments where he hasn’t participated that much, like everybody else.”

He added:

“I think players should stay at football clubs when they feel that they belong somewhere, when they feel important to it, when they feel value in every single aspect and when that’s the case normally players want to stay.

“When players start to decide something else, because they need something different in their futures. Sometimes it is not financial, sometimes it is a sporting reason, sometimes it is family, a problem with adaptation, there are many different cases.”

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