Pepe added he hadn’t forgotten his humble beginnings.

“With my background, I thank my upbringing and the opportunity to have worked in Australia to really understand and grow,” he said.

“I can’t thank the Australian system enough for me to be given this opportunity, but I’ll leave it to the experts to work out how successful or unsuccessful I am because that’s not for me to comment.”

Pepe enjoying the Gunners experience...

Montemurro believes there’s still room for improvement in his Arsenal side and it’s a first v second clash when they meet City on Sunday.

The Gunners have lost England international Jordan Nobbs with an ACL injury a fortnight ago and Pepe said it was time for his squad to prove its depth.

Arsenal have conceded five goals this season and Montemurro added it was part of his plan.

“The pleasing thing with that is it’s synonymous to the proactive style that we want to play,” Montemurro said.

“We’re managing our defensive structure while we’ve got the ball and do that well, then even when the other team regains the ball, we’re always in control.

“It’s very important and it all ties in with the style, it’s not as if I’ve sat there and said ‘Oh, we’re going to defend and hit teams on the break’.

“We’re proactive we’ve got the ball, against Everton there was over 600 passes and they had two attempts on goal. That’s because we manage ourselves well when we’ve got the ball.”

The Melburnian added his team wasn’t getting ahead of themselves despite their super season.

“I’ll use the clichés, we just approach each game for its merit and what it is, we don’t and we can’t think too far ahead,” he said.

“We haven’t set any targets saying ‘If we win this and if we do that’, it’s not about that, it’s about respecting each opponent for who they are and making sure we’re prepared for that challenge.”

Pepe at training. Supplied by Arsenal