Bottom of Form Crystal Palace winger and Arsenal summer target, Wilfried Zaha has urged Gunners’ fans to show patience with record signing Nicolas Pepe, reports football.london.
Pepe arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the summer from Ligue 1 side Lille after scoring 22 goals and providing 11 assists in the French league last season.
However, Pepe’s performances for Arsenal so far this season have been met with criticism, the 24-year-old has scored once in the Premier League (from the penalty spot vs Aston Villa), and has provided two assists.
His early form has led to fans questioning if he was value for money, but Zaha, who plays for Cote d’Ivoire with Pepe, has insisted that the Arsenal man needs time to adapt to the Premier League before he can reproduce the form that saw the club pay a club record £72 million for his services.
![[FILE] Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) runs with the ball as Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel closes in during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/000_97B779-scaled-e1703231851386-120x86.jpg "Liverpool host Arsenal in battle for Premier League Christmas No. 1 3")
“I see the social media, I see everything and it’s a thing where he needs time. He’s come from another league, he’s young,” Zaha told the BBC.
“There’s this price tag that he has not put on himself, people have put that on him because of his performances, so you’ve got to give him time for him to reproduce that, it’s not going to come like that.
“I have got nothing but faith in him, I’ve got confidence that he will produce the same thing that he did before because we both play for Cote d’Ivoire, I’ve seen the talent he’s got, but not everyone sees it.”
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