Nicolas Pepe was the marquee signing for Arsenal this summer and everyone had hoped that the forward would be handed a start at home this weekend vs Burnley.
Sadly though, it was not the case with Nicolas Pepe coming on after half-time in place of youngster Reiss Nelson.
And speaking after the match, Arsenal manager Unai Emery had revealed that the forward is not yet ready to play the full 90 minutes which is why he was brought on as a substitute.
“Pepe’s impact is very good. 45 minutes, he’s with us only two weeks and he needs more to be fully fit,” said Emery.
“Also, I spoke with him yesterday about how he’s feeling every day with us, how he’s feeling before the match, and he’s feeling progressively better but he needs more [time] and I think today 45 minutes for him was perfect.
“One thing we wanted to improve is to be competitive in each position in the squad. For example, today Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil, Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin are out.
“We have different options with big performances. When every player is good to play then perfect.
“But the way is long, the season is long. Different issues and circumstances are coming for each player. We need to be competitive.
“Last year we lost some points at moments where we didn’t have different possibilities for some matches.
“This year I prefer to have important players on the bench with the possibility to have good impact after. The team is going to be more competitive, that’s always my idea.”
As of Sunday, Arsenal remained in the top-four of the Premier League table and next up they will take on Liverpool at Anfield.
During the first two games of the season, Unai Emery has chosen to give youngsters a chance in the first XI but vs Liverpool, we are pretty sure that the manager will not risk anything meaning Nicolas Pepe is more or less a guaranteed starter.
