Nicolas Pepe has explained why he has made a slow start to life at the Emirates.
The Ivory Coast international made the switch to north London for £72m and has taken some time to finally settle in.
He got his name on the scoresheet twice on Thursday evening in the Europa League, curling in two tremendous free-kicks in the pulsating 3-2 victory over Vitoria.
When speaking about his prior struggles, Pepe was quoted in the Independent as saying:
Even if I hadn’t been decisive for a while, I always had the manager’s trust. Of course (I knew it would be hard moving to England). It is a league totally different to Ligue 1, with a different intensity.
For me, I had to adapt quickly because expectations were high. Unfortunately, it is not what I did at the beginning. I keep working hard to perform well and adapt to the Premier League.
I am not at my best physically because I didn’t have a proper pre-season like the others. I was at the African Nations Cup. I started little by little and the manager knew about it. I am trying to work hard to be stronger physically to perform well.
Has Pepe finally found his feet at Arsenal?
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It is hugely common for players who arrive to the Premier League from other European leagues to struggle to adapt to the intensity.
That’s why the English top-flight is widely considered as the best league in world football, because of its competitive nature and intense matches.
The fact Pepe has admitted that he has struggled with the intensity is great to hear because he’s acknowledging his own weakness and working on improving it.
His point about having a very short pre-season is also true. He played 41 competitive matches for club and country last season and hardly got time to rest, but hopefully, his brace against Vitoria will see him back to his best.
