Nicolas Pépé (born 29 May 1995) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for club

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

of the . Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team. Pépé began his senior club career with

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

in the

Championnat de France Amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

. He signed for Angers in 2013, aged 18, and spent a season on loan at

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

in 2017, and was named to the UNFP Ligue 1

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in the 2018–19 season. That summer, Pépé joined Arsenal for a club-record fee of £72 million, and won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in his debut season. Pépé, who was born in France to parents of Ivorian descent, made his debut for the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

on 15 November 2016 in a friendly against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He was selected for the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Club career

Poitiers

Pépé was born in

Mantes-la-Jolie Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, from the centre of the capital. Mantes-la-Jolie is a subprefe ...

, Île-de-France. He started his career originally playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for local side Solitaire Paris Est until he was 14 years old. When his father Celestin, a prison guard, was transferred to

, Pépé began his senior career as an outfield player with

Poitiers FC Stade Poitevin FC is a French football team based in the city of Poitiers, which was established in 1921. It was known as Poitiers FC between 2007 and 2018, and had a number of other names in its history. The club (as Stade Poitevin PEPP) spent the ...

in the

(fifth tier) in 2012–13.

Angers

Pépé signed for Angers in 2013, and spent his first season with the reserves in the CFA 2. He made his professional debut in the second round of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

in a 2–1 home loss to Arles-Avignon on 26 August 2014, as a 73rd-minute substitute for

Yohann Eudeline Yohann Eudeline (born 23 June 1982) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. On 11 May 2019, he was named as director of recruitment of Stade Malherbe Caen. Personal life His father Jacques Eudeline played in Ligue ...

. His first

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

match was on 21 November 2014, starting in a 1–1

draw away to

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

Orléans (loan)

Pépé was loaned to

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and 2015–16 Championnat National The 2015–16 Championnat National season was the 18th season since its establishment. The previous season's champions were Red Star. Teams Stadia and locations * 1 Bastia failed to reach an agreement with the local government on the use of ...

, and helped the club to promotion from the third tier as runners-up. He returned to an Angers side playing in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

and which reached the 2017 Coupe de France Final, where he started in a 1–0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at the

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...

Lille

On 21 June 2017, Pépé signed a five-year deal with

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, for a maximum transfer fee of €10 million, after being signed by head coach Marcelo Bielsa who had scouted the player by watching footage of every Ligue 1 game he had played in for Angers, before scouting him in person. Pépé described Bielsa as "special" and a "great coach". He started the season playing as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

after being converted into playing the position under Bielsa, before finishing the season under the new

head coach Christophe Galtier, playing as a winger. During the entirety of the

2017–18 Ligue 1 The 2017–18 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was the 80th season since its establishment. The season started on 4 August 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. Monaco were the defending champions. On 15 April, Pa ...

season, he was a regular in a Lille side that narrowly avoided relegation, missing only two games and scoring 13 times, including two apiece in away wins at

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. On 15 September 2018, during the

2018–19 Ligue 1 The 2018–19 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was the 81st season since its establishment. The season began on 10 August 2018 and concluded on 24 May 2019. Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions. ...

season, Pépé scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, including two penalties, in the 3–2 away win over

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. Days later, it was confirmed by club president Gérard Lopez that

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

were among several clubs that were interested in signing him. On 14 April 2019, Pépé scored a goal and provided two assists in the 5–1 home win over Paris Saint-Germain. He finished the

season with 22 goals, second only to PSG's

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is renowned for his dribb ...

, with 11 assists, and was named in the UNFP

Arsenal

On 1 August 2019, it was announced that Pépé had joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

in a club-record fee of €79 million (£72 million), eclipsing the previous record of €62 million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Upon signing for Arsenal, he was handed the number 19 shirt. Pépé made his Arsenal debut in a 1–0 away win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 11 August, as a substitute for

Reiss Nelson Reiss Luke Nelson ( ; born 10 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Arsenal. Early and personal life Nelson was born in Elephant and Castle, London He grew up in Aylesbury Estate in ...

in the 71st minute. His first start for the club came two weeks later in a 3–1 loss to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, in which he played the full 90 minutes. He scored his first Arsenal goal, from the penalty spot, in the team's 3–2 home win over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on 22 September. He scored his first European goals in Arsenal's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

3–2 home win over Vitória de Guimarães on 24 October, two free-kicks. On 1 January 2020, Pépé scored Arsenal's first goal in a 2–0 home victory over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, marking new head-coach

Mikel Arteta Mikel Arteta Amatriain (born 26 March 1982) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player. He is the manager of club Arsenal. Arteta began his senior career at Barcelona in 1999 but limited playing time led to a loan to Paris ...

's first win. On 16 February, Pépé scored once and assisted twice in a 4–0 win over Newcastle United. On 28 June, he scored his first

goal in a 2–1 away win against Sheffield United in the quarter-finals, giving Arsenal the lead in the 25th minute from the penalty spot. On 1 August, he played the whole 90 minutes of the FA Cup Final match against Chelsea to win his first club trophy as an Arsenal player, contributing the assist for Aubameyang's second goal. On 22 November 2020, Pépé received the first red card of his career in a 0–0 away draw against Leeds United after clashing heads with

Ezgjan Alioski Ezgjan Alioski ( mk, Езѓан Алиоски; born 12 February 1992) is a Macedonian professional footballer who plays as a winger or wing-back for Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe on loan from Saudi club Al-Ahli and the North Macedonia ...

in the 51st minute. On 2 February 2021, he beat two defenders before scoring in a game against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

; that goal was later voted as Goal of the Month for February on Arsenal's official website. On 24 February 2022, Pépé scored his first goal of the

2021–22 Premier League The 2021–22 Premier League was the 30th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992, and the 123rd season of top-flight English football overall. The start a ...

season in a 2–1 win against Wolverhampton with an 82nd-minute strike, and was instrumental in the buildup of forcing an own goal in the 95th minute to cap a late comeback.

Nice (loan)

On 25 August 2022, Pépé joined Ligue 1 club

on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season without an option to buy.

International career

Pépé was born in France to parents of Ivorian descent. He received a call up to the Ivory Coast national team in November 2016, and was an unused substitute in the goalless draw away to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

on 12 November. He made his debut three days later in a friendly of the same score against his birth nation,

, at the

Stade Bollaert-Delelis The Stade Bollaert-Delelis () is the main football stadium in Lens, France, that was built in 1933. It is the home of RC Lens. The stadium's capacity is 38,223 – about 7,000 more than the city's population. The stadium was originally named af ...

in Lens, playing the final four minutes in place of Max-Alain Gradel. Pépé was named in

Michel Dussuyer Michel Dussuyer (born 28 May 1959) is a French football coach and former professional player. Playing career Dussuyer played club football as a goalkeeper for Cannes, Nice and Alès. Coaching career Dussuyer was an assistant coach at Cannes bet ...

's 23-man squad for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

in Gabon, but took no part as the Elephants were eliminated from their group. On 24 March 2018, in a friendly against

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

in France, Pépé scored his first international goals in the first half of a 2–2 draw. He followed it three days later, with another goal in a 2–1 win against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

in the same stadium. Pépé was called up for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

in Egypt. He was absent from their quarter-final penalty shootout defeat by

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, having been dropped for Max Alain Gradel due to a lack of form.

Style of play

Pépé is known as a quick and skilled attacking winger who is comfortable on both flanks, but usually plays on the right wing cutting onto his left foot; he was also converted from playing in wide positions by former Lille head coach Marcelo Bielsa to play as a

on either the inside or central channel.

Media

Pépé was involved in the

Amazon Original In 2013, Amazon.com began distributing original television shows through its Amazon Prime Video service, some of which are developed in-house by Amazon Studios. Original programming Drama Comedy Animation Adult animation Anime Kids & fa ...

sports docuseries '' All or Nothing: Arsenal'', which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pépé goal''

Honours

Arsenal *

: 2019–20 Individual * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2018–19 * UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: September 2018, January 2019 *

Prix Marc-Vivien Foé The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an award in an honour to the late Marc-Vivien Foé Marc-Vivien Foé (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder for both club and country. Having ini ...

: 2019 *

Player of the Season: 2018–19 *

Squad of the Season:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pepe, Nicolas 1995 births Living people People from Mantes-la-Jolie Footballers from Yvelines French footballers Ivorian footballers Association football wingers Stade Poitevin FC players Angers SCO players US Orléans players Lille OSC players Arsenal F.C. players OGC Nice players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Ligue 1 players Premier League players FA Cup Final players Ivory Coast international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate footballers Ivorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England French sportspeople of Ivorian descent