“I never even thought about that,” admitted Nicolas Pépé in November. “Now, in modern football, it’s going fast. I did not see myself being transferred for 10 million. I did not even see myself becoming a professional …”
Pépé was born in quaint-sounding Mantes-la-Jolie – 18 miles to the west of the capital – but raised on the mean streets of Paris’s 19th arrondissement that was also the birthplace of Kylian Mbappé. But unlike the only player to finish ahead of him in last season’s Ligue 1 scoring charts Pépé was never expected to become a superstar. Even his father had his doubts when the player who is set to become Arsenal’s record signing and the most expensive African in history announced at the age of six it was his intention to follow his dream.
“He was so sure of himself but I could not say anything,” remembered Céléstin Pépé in an interview with Onze Mondial last year. “The teacher was surprised but hey. He had his idea in mind. I just wanted him to reach his goal.”
A keen player in his younger days in the Ivory Coast, Pépé Sr became a youth coach and played for Poitiers’ veterans’ side when his employment as a prison guard meant the family had to move more than 200 miles away from Paris to the cathedral city when his son was 14. Yet rather than the incisive pace and deadly left foot that have become his trademark since he moved to Lille in 2017, Pépé’s career had begun between the sticks at the amateur youth side FC Paris Solitaires Est before he made the switch to playing outfield.
Even then the willowy teenager did not really stand out, with Angers taking a chance on the 18-year-old only after he was recommended to their coach, Stéphane Moulin, by the Poitiers sporting director, Philippe Leclerc, in 2013. Once there, Pépé came close to being thrown out after an incident at a supermarket that led to him and several teammates being accused of eating a chocolate bar without paying for it. Only the intervention of the youth coach, Abdel Bouhazama, saved them.
“He and the president gave us a second chance,” Pépé told Onze. “They showed they really cared about us.”
After making his debut for Angers in Ligue 2 in November 2014, a spell on loan at third-tier Orléans ended with promotion and Pépé being named the best player in the Championnat National. “At first I did not like it but I managed to change that,” he said. “And it allowed me to increase my mental strength and be able to impose myself in Ligue 1.”
Within 12 months, he was playing in the Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain, having scored three goals during his debut season in the top flight. The offers were already flooding in, with Watford and Hull failing with bids of £7m in January 2017 before Marcelo Bielsa’s Lille got their man for around £9m that summer. Pépé played less than half a season under him before the current Leeds manager fell out with the club’s hierarchy and was replaced by Christophe Galtier, with Lille narrowly avoiding relegation thanks in large part to their flying winger’s 13 league goals.
Yet it was last season which proved to be his coming of age as Galtier’s young side surprised everyone by finishing second to PSG, with Pépé playing a starring role in the 5-1 thrashing of Thomas Tuchel’s champions elect in April. A total of 22 goals alerted most of Europe’s top clubs to a player who had not been on most of their radars until recently given his modest background, even if the Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, is said to be a long-standing admirer.
Lille’s financial difficulties under their owner Gérard Lopez – they were threatened with relegation in 2018 after a run-in with French football’s notoriously strict financial authority, the DNCG – meant a transfer was almost inevitable this summer, even if offers from mooted suitors Barcelona and PSG failed to materialise.
With Napoli also interested, Arsenal stepped in after they received encouragement from Lopez that payment of €80m could be structured over the next five seasons, making Pépé – who is expected to earn around £90,000 a week at the Emirates – a much more affordable proposition than his international teammate Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace.
While neither lived up to expectations at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt as Ivory Coast were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals against the eventual winners, Algeria, Pépé offered a glimpse of his talent in the opening seconds of their first match against South Africa. His mazy dribble down the right flank set up Jonathan Kodjia for an opening he spurned, while two sweetly-struck free-kicks from the edge of the box almost resulted in goals. Arsenal supporters will hope he can form a potent front three with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, although it remains to be seen whether they can dovetail successfully with the mercurial Mesut Özil.
“My son has a lot of qualities but he still has a lot of work,” Pépé’s father said. “He must be more consistent in his game, more serious. He must understand this is not fun, it’s his job.”
With the Emirates Stadium craving success after the struggles of recent seasons, they will hope Arsenal’s record signing can live up to his potential.
