Mikel Arteta has refused to rule out a potential exit for Nicolas Pepe in the summer.
The Ivorian has not started a Premier League game for Arsenal since October's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace and has found himself comfortably behind the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli in the pecking order recently.
This led to rumours late in the January transfer window that he could leave the Emirates, but with the departures of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Flo Balogun the Gunners were keen on keeping their record signing.
At the end of the season though he will have just two years remaining on his deal in North London prompting fresh discussions over his future, and now Arteta has admitted his long-term situation is far from certain.
"I hope he does," said the Spaniard when asked if Pepe saw his long-term future with Arsenal. "But I understand when a player doesn’t play he’s disappointed and Nico has been disappointed because he wanted to have more minutes.
"Hopefully he can play many more minutes and he can contribute to the team because he has the ability to do it."
Despite this though Arteta backed the former Lille man to have a positive impact on the Gunners side in the back end of the season yet again.
Last campaign Pepe scored eight goals in his final 11 appearances, and the year before that he provided a match winning assist in the FA Cup final victory over Chelsea.
After leaving North London for nearly a month to represent the Ivory Coast at AFCON, Arteta admitted that Pepe appears more revitalised and backed him to play a key part as Arsenal look to secure Champions League football for the first time in half a decade.
"Since he’s come back again from AFCON, I think I’ve seen a different Nico as well. I don’t know what it is," the Spanaird said.
"Probably he’s realised the importance of the end of the season for him. He had a brilliant end of the season last year, he can replicate that.
"We need him, we need him at his best. Everybody’s going to contribute because we are really short at this moment and we need it.
"Hopefully he has understood that we want to play him, that I don’t want to have a player like him sitting on the bench and not using him. The moment I have chances I want to give him chances."
Arteta has always been very big on what players transmit around the training ground in terms of attitude, and the improved mood Pepe is showing suggests that he could possibly be in line for some more minutes between now and the end of the campaign.
"I think his, attitude his smile, the way he’s communicating with everybody," the 39-year-old said when explaining what was different about the Ivorian winger. "His energy, the way he’s trained, his efficiency in training, his application. His energy has changed, I don’t know what it is.
"Probably he felt important again, probably he felt like a proper football player that can win tournaments and he thought, ‘OK this is me now.’ He needed that, and I’m really pleased with that."
