Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe has enjoyed an encouraging debut season in the Premier League.
After excelling at Lille in Ligue 1 last season, the 25-year-old joined the Gunners for a club record £72m fee last summer and his six goals and eight assists in 32 games across all competitions is a decent, if not spectacular, return.
It can be argued that his form at the Emirates Stadium has improved since the appointment of Mikel Arteta as head coach.
One of Pepe's best outings in an Arsenal shirt came in the 4-0 win over Newcastle United in February as he scored and played a role in the other three goals.
However, it was his defensive work that impressed Arteta above all else.
"Hopefully,”Arteta said when asked if Pepe's career in north London was ready to take off. "We just need consistency from him.
"Wide talented players in this league is not easy to get because obviously the most difficult thing to do is create things, but we’ve said some things and we need Nico to maintain game by game.
"He knows that and it’s the way he was applying himself defensively in a few moments, he was top drawer.
"That’s what he wasn’t doing in the past and when he does that, the rewards in the other box come. He made a difference today."
Arteta's comment about Pepe's defensive work against the Magpies is something which his teammate, Alexandre Lacazette, agrees with.
The pair provided 'Unclassic Commentary" for that game and at around the 0.54 mark Pepe can be seen making a block tackle high up the pitch as he prevented the visitors from launching the ball to the attacking players.
This was spotted by Lacazette and he had plenty to say.
"Great tackle by Nicolas Pepe," he said. "He seems to have made good progress in that department." To which Pepe nods his head and replies with "Exactly."
Before Lacazette finishes off by praising the work Arteta has done with the Ivory Coast international: "Since the arrival of Mikel Arteta, there have been plenty of changes," he adds.
