Arsenal fans have taken to social media and reacted to an interaction between Mikel Arteta and Nicolas Pepe in training.
The Gunners are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they face Aston Villa away from home, looking to bounce back from Tuesday evening's somewhat controversial 2-1 loss against Wolves.
Before David Luiz's red card changed the game, Pepe had given Arsenal the lead at Molineux Stadium with a fine solo effort as he beat two players before curling the ball home with his weaker right foot.
That was the Ivory Coast international's second goal in three starts, and his form in general of late has improved.
There is a theory that emulating the likes of Karim Benzema and Luis Suarez by wearing a bandage on his right hand is the reason why Pepe is finally beginning to live up to his £72m price-tag.
But will the winger keep his place in the starting XI at Villa Park?
That remains to be seen as captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is pushing for a start after making his return to action as a substitute - replacing Pepe - against Wolves.
Given Pepe has been operating from the left-hand side recently, he is most at risk of being dropped if https://www.football.london/all-about/mikel-arteta
opts to recall the Gabon international.
Alternatively, Aubameyang could start through the middle instead of Alexandre Lacazette which would allow Pepe to retain his place.
Interestingly, there was a moment between Pepe and Arteta during Friday's training session at London Colney as the pair were spotted having a deep conversation.
It's unclear as to what was said, but, as seen in the images above, it ended with Arteta helping Pepe get back to his feet.
As expected, this interaction was spotted by many Arsenal fans and garnered a big response on Twitter...
Speaking ahead of the Villa game, Arteta was full of praise for Pepe as he claimed the winger is playing his best football for Arsenal.
"If you ask me personally what I think about his overall performances in all the phases of the game I think this is the best he's played," Arteta said. "His contributions to those aspects is the best he's done and he needs to sustain that.
"When you have momentum in football you cannot lose it and in order to do that you have to keep the basics right and keep doing what you're doing, if not you know somebody is going to be knocking on your door."
