Mikel Arteta feels Nicolas Pepe can be a big player for Arsenal for "many years" to come after seeing significant improvements in his game.
The Ivorian struggled to find his feet at The Emirates following his £72million switch from Lille last summer, with the jury still out on Arsenal's club-record signing.
Pepe scored eight times in 42 appearances in all competitions last season but there is still scepticism the 25-year-old will ever live up to his price tag.
However Pepe has made a decent impression on boss Arteta since his appointment, and the Spaniard feels there is plenty more to come from the winger.
"I think he has come a long way, Nico," Arteta said. "Obviously we know what the club paid for him when he joined and that was obviously an extra pressure.
"He is a really good character to have around and I'm really positive we are going to have him for many years.
"But he is a player who had to adapt, it is a different style and he has a really good attitude and we can see big developments in a lot of places in his game."
Pepe has been reduced to only substitute appearances in the Premier League so far this season but did play the whole of Arsenal's Carabao Cup third round win over Leicester on Tuesday.
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He even set up Arsenal's first goal against the Foxes, forcing Christian Fuchs to turn the ball into his own net after a powerful run.
Quizzed on how he sees Pepe's future panning out at Arsenal, Arteta replied: "He is very settled here, he is liked by the boys, he is a really good character to have around and I'm really positive we are going to have him for many years and that he can perform at a really high level consistently."
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