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Unai Emery has insisted Arsenal made the right decision by choosing to sign Nicolas Pepe instead of Ivory Coast team-mate Wilfried Zaha over the summer.

The Gunners smashed their transfer record to acquire Pepe from Lille in a £72m deal after they were unwilling to meet Crystal Palace's asking price for Zaha.

After scoring 22 goals and providing 11 assists last term to help his side finish second in Ligue 1, Pepe arrived in North London with high expectations but got off to a slow start at the Emirates Stadium.

However, despite finding the net just once in his first nine Premier League games, the 24-year-old showed signs of his quality with two spectacular free-kicks during Thursday's 3-2 Europa League win over Vitoria Guimaraes.

And Emery says the brace reinforced his confidence in the Ivorian and is hopeful it is a sign of things to come.

(Image: REUTERS)

"We chose to sign Pepe even though Zaha is a very good player," said the Spaniard.

“We signed Pepe not for two months, six months, one or two years but for the process. And the process is coming together little by little.

“Nicolas will be more confident after Thursday. This club follows a lot of players all around the world, because we have very good scouts. We are very happy with Pepe.

“We need patience and to be calm with him, help him and protect him because he can think he is playing under pressure.”

(Image: PA)

Although Zaha is yet to score for Palace this season, Emery knows his players will have to keep an on the winger when Arsenal host Roy Hodgson's side on Sunday.

On the subject of the 26-year-old, who was also a target for Everton , the Gunners boss added: “He is a very good player and he has been the difference in a lot of matches against us.

“But we have players who can stop him and impose our capacity, our organisation on them.

"For sure he is very motivated - but our challenge is how we can stop him and use our own quality.”

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

Meanwhile, Pepe said he was grateful for the faith and support Emery has shown him as he continues to get up to speed in the Premier League.

He said: “The manager trusts me. Even if I hadn’t been decisive, it is always important to have the manager’s faith.

“Of course I knew it would be hard. This is totally different to Ligue 1, a different intensity.

“I had to adapt quickly because expectations were high. Unfortunately, that is not what I did at the beginning - but I had the manager’s trust and the players have supported me.”