Transfer: Why Mikel Arteta sent me out of the squad - Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe reveals.

Arsenal FC striker Nicolas Pepe is optimistic about being in the Gunners’ squad for the 2023-24 season. He reveals why Mikel Arteta kicked him out of the team last season.

He also stressed that the claims that he does not have a good relationship with coach Mikel Arteta are false.

According to Vanguard, Pepe joined the Gunners from LOSC Lille Metropole in August 2019 for a record £72 million.

Under Arteta, the Ivorian scored 23 goals and provided 16 assists in 93 games.

In the 2021/22 season, his playing time in the Premier League dropped drastically to just 681 minutes, and it became clear that he was not a regular for the North Londoners.

Last year, the winger was loaned to OGC Nice, with an option to buy, but the French club refused to exercise it.

Now he is back at the Emirates Stadium and speaking to the YouTube channel Colinterview, the African said, “People say that he [Arteta] identified me as a player who was not up to the level of his team and his philosophy.

“This is completely wrong. When he came, he had the philosophy of [Manchester] City. He had a squad filled with quality and reinforcements in every position.

“When he spoke to me, he said he was counting on me, he wanted me to do this or that, and that’s what you have to focus on. He made me better in every way.

“He believed in me. He said I had incredible potential, so we have to realize that potential.”