Nwankwo Kanu reveals why teams are afraid of Premier League star

The former Super Eagles striker believes clubs in the English top flight have become aware of the talent of and are increasingly afraid of the potential of Arsenal’s new signing Nicolas Pepe.

The Ivorian joined the Gunners from French side Lille during the summer for a club record fee and Kanu has already seen enough to know that Pepe will be a huge hit at his former club.

“He’s a good player,” the 1996 Olympics hero told Goal in a chat monitored by Soccernet.ng. “He’s got fast feet and I think he can unlock teams. He can score and he can assist.

“The league here is totally different from every other league so it takes time for somebody coming in to perform the way they have for their other clubs. But I think he will do well for us because now he is getting more game time and I believe he will complement the other two strikers.”

“If you watch him you can see he is a really good footballer and his feet are very quick. He is going to score goals and he is going to play well,” Kanu added.

“I believe that teams are already afraid of him after a few games. They are scared of what he can do and what he can offer. He’s a very good addition.”

Kanu, a former Arsenal star, jumped to the defence of Nicolas Pepe after the Ivorian came under criticism for his poor finishing. Pepe is yet to open his scoring account for his new side despite featuring in four games so far, spurning a few decent goalscoring chances notably against Liverpool.

But 43-year-old Nwankwo Kanu retains no worries about a lad who banged in 23 goals for Lille last season.

“As a striker you want to create chances.

“If you keep missing them it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to keep creating the chances because the goals will definitely come.

“People have to understand that he [Pepe] has come from a different country, everything is new. He has new team-mates and the coach will definitely want him to play different. All this counts.

“But a good footballer is always a good footballer. He will get much better and he will score goals for us. He brings us something different to the other two strikers.

“I want to just tell him to keep doing what he is doing.”

Nigeria Legend Nwankwo Kanu won two Premier League titles during his five-year stay with the Gunners.