Ivory Coast midfielder Nicolas Pepe rose to stardom in the French league but struggled to live up to his price tag with Arsenal in the Premier League and is now playing his football in Turkey.

Nicolas Pepe is a French-born midfielder who plays for the Ivory Coast national team and for Turkish side Trabzonspor.

Previously, he has played most of his football in the French league for Poitiers, Angers, Lille and Orleans on loan.

At the start of the 2019/20 season he joined Arsenal from Lille for a reported club record fee of £72million and helped the club win the FA Cup.

But the Ivorian failed to hold down a starting role at the Emirates, and was loaned to Nice and then released in September 2023 allowing him to join Trabzonspor as a free agent.

Pepe made his debut for Ivory Coast in 2016 against France, and scored his first goals in a friendly against Togo.

 

 

Joining Arsenal

The winger was handed the number 19 shirt at Arsenal following his arrival from Lille. He joined the Gunners on August 1 2019 after a successful 2018/19 season in Ligue 1.

Life at Arsenal under then manager Unai Emery got off to a difficult start as Pepe failed to live up to his price tag in his first few appearances. Pepe scored his first Arsenal goal, a penalty, in a 3-2 home win over Aston Villa in September.

In November 2019, Emery was sacked as manager following seven games without a win. He was replaced by Freddie Ljungberg on an interim basis before Mikel Arteta was appointed permanently.

Arsenal continued to be inconsistent in the Premier League finishing in 8th place. However, Pepe was part of Arsenal's successful 2020 FA Cup run, helping the Gunners beat Chelsea 2-1 in the final.

The winger was not always first choice for the Gunners, during the 2019/20 season, but he managed to make 42 appearances in all competitions and score eight goals.

In 2020/21, Pepe struggled to hold down a spot in the Arsenal team. After a red card in a goalless draw against Leeds, he drew criticism from Arteta.

In August 2022, Pepe was sent on a season-long loan to Ligue 1 club Nice in a bid to reignite his career.

He scored eight goals in 28 appearances across all competitions for the French side, but failed to secure a full-time move and Arsenal decided to terminate his contract with a year left on it in September 2023.

Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor swooped and signed free agent Pepe a few days later.

 

Ivory Coast international

Pepe was born in France but opted to represent the Ivory Coast, due to his parents' African heritage. In November 2016, he made his international debut, ironically against France as he came off the bench.

Pepe made the Ivory Coast squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, but it proved a disappointment for the reigning champions as they were eliminated at the group stage.

On March 24 2018, Pepe scored his first international goals, scoring in the 16th and 24th minute of a friendly against Togo at the Stade Pierre Brisson in France.

Pepe again travelled with Ivory Coast to the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019. However, The Elephants were eliminated on penalties in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Algeria.

He scored twice in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, but Ivory Coast went out on penalties to Egypt in the round of 16.

Personal life

 

Pepe is married to French social media influencer Fanny B, and have been together since 2017.

 

On 4 July 2020, Arsenal took to social media to announce that Pepe was about to become a father. As a result, he missed the 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

 

Nearly two years later the couple announced their second child had been born, just before another match against Wolves.

Net worth

Pepe's contract at Arsenal was reportedly worth £105,000 per week, and he took a significant pay cut to join Trabzonspor with his wages now believe to be €39,615 per week.

His net worth is believe to be around €28million.