Nicolas Pepe

Nicolas Pepe (born 29 May 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Arsenal. Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team.

Pepe began his senior club career with Poitiers in the Championnat de France Amateur 2. He signed for Angers in 2013, aged 18, and spent a season on loan at Orleans in 2015. He signed for Lille in 2017, and was named to the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year in the 2018–19 season. That summer, Pepe joined Arsenal for a club-record fee of £72 million, and won the FA Cup in his debut season.

Pepe, who was born in France to parents of Ivorian descent, made his debut for the Ivory Coast on 15 November 2016 in a friendly against France. He was selected for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

Club Career

Poitiers

Pepe was born in Mantes-la-Jolie, Ile-de-France. He started his career originally playing as a goalkeeper for local side Solitaire Paris Est until he was 14 years old. When his father Celestin, a prison guard, was transferred to Poitiers, Pepe began his senior career as an outfield player with Poitiers FC in the Championnat de France Amateur 2 (fifth tier) in 2012–13.

Angers

Pepe 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 in a 2–1 home loss to Arles-Avignon on 26 August 2014, as a 73rd-minute substitute for Yohann Eudeline. His first Ligue 2 match was on 21 November 2014, starting in a 1–1 Ligue 2 draw away to Ajaccio.

Pepe was loaned to Orleans for the 2015–16 Championnat National, and helped the club to promotion from the third tier as runners-up. He returned to an Angers side playing in Ligue 1 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.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Николя Пепе (russian)