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 lea ...
who plays as a
right winger
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
. Born in France, he played for France national teams at youth level before switching to the Togo national team.
Club career
Gakpé began his career playing for his local club UMS Pontault-Combault, whom
AS Monaco
Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...
share a partnership with. During his time in
Pontault-Combault
Pontault-Combault () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.Clairefontaine academy. After being recommended to the
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
side by Pontault-Combault and Clairefontaine officials, he agreed to join the
principality
A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...
-based side in 2001.
Despite not having a professional contract, he joined the first-team squad following the winter break of the 2005–06 season, making his professional debut in a 1–1 draw against
RC Lens
Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...
on 22 January 2006. Not only did he start the match, but also scored his first professional goal, in the 7th minute. He went on to play in 13 more matches and added another goal to his tally as well.
Serge then signed his first professional contract on 4 January 2007, inking a three-year deal with the club. He later added another year to the contract, which tied him to Monaco until 2011. Over the next three seasons, his playing time increased, making 76 appearances and scoring 11 goals. His performances caught the attention of several prominent European clubs such as English sides
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
, and Spanish club
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...
.
Gakpé signed for
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...
club
FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...
on 28 January 2011. At the end of January 2012, it was announced that Gakpé had signed for Belgian club
Standard Liège
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège.
They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...
on a season-long loan. On 30 August 2014, he scored the only goal in the match, converting a penalty, against
Montpellier HSC
Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (; ), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC, is a French professional association football, football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie. The original club was ...
.
International career
Even though Gakpé holds French nationality and represented France at youth level, he chose to play for the Togo national team, and was called up for the
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...
match against
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
on 6 September 2009.
In 2013 he played in all matches at
2013 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...
when his team reached the quarter-finals.
International goals
:''Scores and results list Togo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gakpé goal.''