Arteta must bench Arsenal’s big-money signing who’s becoming the new Pepe

Arsenal have been beset by another late-season wobble, but much of the recent criticism has been overblown.

The Gunners are top of the Premier League, six points clear of Manchester City (who have a game in hand). Mikel Arteta’s side are also into the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second successive year, where Atletico Madrid and Diego Simeone await.

Bukayo Saka is not performing at the standard we have come to know and love. The 23-year-old will surely return to his world-class standard in the future, but this has been a gruelling campaign for the England winger, and the same goes for Gabriel Martinelli.

The wide forwards have probably been overused throughout Arteta’s tenure, but he has tried to change things up. Sadly, alterations have left something to be desired this season.

Why Arsenal are struggling in attack

The goals are drying up at Arsenal, who secured a 1-0 aggregate victory over Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League, having suffered defeats against Bournemouth, Southampton and Manchester City in recent weeks.

There are improvements to be made, but Arteta and technical director Andrea Berta are ready to attack the summer transfer window with venom – and hopefully as reigning Premier League champions.

The fact is that Arsenal’s open-play attacking regression is not an anomaly in the English top flight. If anything, they have combatted the shift to a more direct landscape better than their rivals, rising highest on many occasions after expert deliveries from the likes of Saka and Declan Rice.

There are other factors. Saka’s burnout has been clear to see, and recent questions have been raised pertaining to the signing and subsequent form of Noni Madueke, whose performances have not been reflective of a £52m price tag when purchased from Chelsea.

Madueke, 23, is a talented winger, fast and furious and direct, but he’s not yet proven to be at the requisite standard in a title-challenging starting 11.

But he’s not the only one, with another of Arsenal’s big-money forwards fast becoming the new version of Nicolas Pepe.

The Arsenal star who’s become the new Nicolas Pepe

Pepe arrived at Arsenal with a weight of expectation, but the reality is that his good moments were vastly outweighed by the overwhelming disappointment, drifting across too many games.

Now, Viktor Gyokeres might be emerging as the new version of the dynamic Ivorian winger, somewhat incongruous at the front of Arteta’s Arsenal system, even if he’s scoring at a decent rate.

Arsenal signed Gyokeres from Sporting CP last summer, securing the prolific Lisbon-based striker for around £64m. In Portugal, he had scored 97 goals from 102 appearances, regarded as “the hottest striker in the world” by talkSPORT host Flex.

It’s probably fair to say that he hasn’t established himself as a world-class part of Arteta’s squad, even though he is nearing the 20-goal mark.

The thing is, Pepe closed the door on his Emirates career having enjoyed prolific returns. He scored 27 goals and provided 21 assists across 112 matches for Arsenal in all competitions.

However, he never matched the immense form in France when plying his trade for LOSC Lille, and he was, of course, overshadowed by a colossal £72m price tag that put him on the back foot from the get-go.

Could Gyokeres be treading the same ground? After all, the Sweden striker has done a pretty good job in front of goal, all things considered. He has scored 18 times across all competitions, bagging 12 goals from 30 appearances in the Premier League.

The stats would continue to outline a prolific edge, for the 27-year-old has only missed ten big chances in the top flight. However, he has also averaged only 5.5 passes per game, completing just 18% of his dribbles and winning only 32% of his aerial battles.

Arsenal have a seismic game on the horizon, taking on Manchester City at the Etihad this weekend. Should Pep Guardiola’s side win, they will move within three points of the table-toppers – and with a game in hand at that.

Gyokeres will surely be at risk of being isolated, so perhaps a more dynamic forward, such as Gabriel Jesus or Kai Havertz, could be the smarter option to go for there.

Madueke might have flattered to deceive at times in an Arsenal shirt, only scoring twice in the Premier League, but he was added as an adjunct to Saka’s right wing, whereas Gyokeres arrived with the expectation that he would lead the line for many years.

While Gyokeres knows how to score a goal, is he really the long-term answer at number nine for this Arsenal side? Perhaps not. Sooner or later, Arteta will move to replace his big-money signing, as happened with Pepe several years ago.

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