Nicolas Pépé
RMST
Côte d'Ivoire31 years
Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
RM
Right midfieldMain
2,549 min · 31 apps · 31 starts
ST
Striker
2,353 min · 46 apps · 23 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Villarreal · independent of the season filter
Rotation
Involvement62%
Performance52%
Through the match on 24 Oct 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Nicolas Pépé is a Côte d’Ivoire forward who often attacks from the right towards goal. His left foot shapes his shooting, but he can beat a defender on either side. That choice matters: an opponent protecting the inside route cannot simply assume he will refuse to go outside.
His threat also comes from what happens after he wins that first duel. Driving diagonally after possession changes, he can slide a pass through for a teammate or carry the ball into shooting range. Without the ball, he makes angled runs into the penalty area. These are connected parts of his game: he can start an attack out wide and finish it closer to goal.
Born in Mantes-la-Jolie, France, Pépé developed through Stade Poitevin before joining Angers in 2013. A loan at US Orléans was another step before his return to Angers and move to Lille in June 2017.
At Lille he formed an attacking partnership with Jonathan Bamba and Jonathan Ikoné. His 2018/19 league campaign brought 22 goals and 11 assists, although nine of those goals were penalties. Those figures capture both his finishing and his provision for others. He moved to Arsenal in August 2019.
Pépé won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2020. After three seasons there, he spent 2022/23 on loan at Nice, then played for Trabzonspor before joining Villarreal in August 2024. The moves carried his career from France through England and Turkey to Spain.
He made his Côte d’Ivoire debut in 2016 and was part of the side that won the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil in February 2024. That was AFCON 2023, with the final played the following year.
At the 2026 World Cup, Pépé scored both goals in the 2–0 win over Curaçao that sent Côte d’Ivoire into the knockout stage for the first time. They then lost 2–1 to Norway in the round of 32, a match in which he supplied the pass for Amad Diallo’s equaliser.
Latest stats & form
Match coverage through 29 September 2026 · club and country
Nicolas Pépé is listed as a right midfielder for Villarreal. Across 9 covered appearances for club and country in 2026/27, he has 2 goals and 0 assists in 604 minutes, with 7 starts. That is 0.30 goals and assists combined per 90 minutes. His last 5 covered official appearances for club and country, from 8 September 2026 to 29 September 2026, produced 0 goals and 0 assists. Across the season coverage, he has 13 recorded key passes.