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Arsenal legend Tony Adams has praised Nicolas Pepe for his performance in the 3-1 win over Leicester on Sunday, having previously been critical of the forward.
Pepe scored Arsenal's third goal against the Foxes, his fourth in his last seven league starts, and Adams says he is hopeful that the 25-year-old has "put my criticism to bed".
Speaking to Stadium Astro, Adams said: "I have been critical. Why did we need this player in the first place? Massive price-tag. £72m and Saka, when we have got good kids coming through.
"But hopefully he has put my criticism to bed, you know.
"He has put a performance in, and that’s what he needs to give himself a little bit of a spark.
"The longer it goes in the Europa League, he is going to get more opportunities to play, gain that confidence and, who knows, next season he could be an exceptional player for us."
Gunners midfielder Granit Xhaka was also impressed with Pepe's performance, telling the Evening Standard: "I think every player who comes to the Premier League needs a little bit of time to adapt.
"I think he is now this guy and the player what we wish, what the people wish, and he is doing very good game by game, training by training.
"I am so happy for him. He helped us today with a goal."
Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta said: "I don't know [whether that's Arsenal's best display of the season] but I'm certainly happy with the performance of the team, and again the character, the composure that we showed.
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"Coming here after a very short turnaround from Benfica, and going down very early put us in a really difficult position against a Leicester team that probably is the best in that area.
"I think we played some really good moments in the game, looked really solid, we dominated the game and I think overall we deserved the win."
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- Arsenal FC
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