17.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR
mirror.co.uk/sport/football^3DM1ST
IN ASSOCIATION
WITHPepe was always a bit special – now he tips him to light up the Prem
ARSENAL new boy Nicolas Pepe
saved his first club with a
teenage wonder goal – and his
£72million transfer fee will now
net them a £1m windfall.
The Ivory Coast star, set to make
his home debut against Burnley
today after coming on against
Newcastle last Sunday (right), scored
22 goals in the French League last
term to attract interest from
Barcelona, Napoli and Manchester
United.
But his path to the top of European
football began when his dad Celestin
took a job as a prison officer in the
small university town of Poitiers and
he joined the local club aged 14.
After coming through the youth
ranks, Pepe broke into the first teamstate all his formative clubs will share
five per cent of his Arsenal transfer
fee. So Stade Poitevin, who have an
annual budget of €220,000 and an
average crowd of 400-500, and who
filed for bankruptcy in 2005, will get
about £1m.
Dubois, who saw his keeper
Nicolas Tie move to Chelsea for free
in 2017, said: “It is a sacred bit of oxy-
gen. If everyone who left was like
Pepe, it would be great financially!
“I have followed his progress
closely and for us there is an enor-
mous satisfaction to see the player
arrive at this level.
“I think he has made a good choice
in Arsenal because there are lot of
French-speaking players there and a
good coach and he will be an
immediate starter.
“I think he still has progress to
make but he is doing really, really
well. And I think he has the abilities
to succeed.
“And of course I hope he will.”But he has since made such an im-
provement and had such a career
that I can only say bravo.”
Pepe (below) has claimed that
moving to Poitiers from Paris allowed
him to flourish and dare to believe he
could become a professional. His
father next moved to Angers and,
after a loan spell at Orleans, he played
in Ligue 1 and the 2017 French Cup
final before joining Lille for €10m.
Manager Marcelo Bielsa watched
videos of his every Ligue 1 appear-
ance after former Real Madrid
scout Luis Campos spotted him
scoring another superb goal
against Rennes. “I quickly fell in
love with him,” Campos told
France Football.
Deployed at Lille by Bielsa as a
centre-forward, Pepe’s career
took off only when he was shifted
to his favoured right-wing posi-
tion after the Argentine’s sacking
to become the most expensive
export from Ligue 1. FIFA rulesability in a tight match to make a dif-
ference.” Dubois, who has been at
Poitiers for 35 years, added: “He was
a nice kid, popular – not difficult to
coach. There are certain kids I have
seen who are not like that.
“They arrive and they think they
are Neymar before putting football
boots on.
“You could see he was a bit special
but he was so young and there was
such a long way to go in his career.in 2012-2013 and is still fondly re-
membered for a magical goal in the
last game of the season in National 3,
the French fifth division.
“He was young but I saw him
develop here,” recalled Stade Poitevin
president Regis Dubois.
“He scored a magnificent goal
against Nantes Reserves in the last
match of the season and saved us
from relegation – that is why we are
in National 3 today.
“It was a goal of beauty. He
started on the flank and drib-
bled past all these players before
a marvellous shot into the top
corner.”
Pepe’s father Celestin last year
told French football magazine
Onze Mondial: “The most mem-
orable match of his career was
when he was at Poitiers. I was so
proud – I shook that day!”
Former team-mate Anthony
Arnould said: “He made the game
look easy but he always had thevi
an
sc
sc
ag
lo
F c t t t t ey
e
eARSENAL v
BURNLEY
Emirates Stadium, 12.30pmPEPE’S ROAD TO THE EMIRATES
Age: 24
Height: 6ft
Club career:
2012-13: Poitiers App 9 Goals 2
2013-15: Angers 2 App 41 Goals 9
2013-17: Angers App 40 Goals 3
2015-2016: Orleans (loan) App 29 Goals 7
2017-19: Lille App 74 Goals 35
Country:
2016- Ivory Coast App 13 Goals 4SITTING PRETTY
Regis Dubois, with Mirror
Sport’s Neil McLeman (above)
says Pepe has what it takesEXCLUSIVE BY NEIL McLEMANBY NEIL McLEMAN
UNAI EMERY claims he does not know if a
summer spree has improved his squad.
The Gunners spent £138million on five
new players plus a loan deal for Real
Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, while
offloading five others for £54m.
None of the new signings started in the
opening win at Newcastle – not even record
£72m signing Nicolas Pepe.
Asked if the squad is better than last
season, the Spaniard (below) said: “I don’t
know. Our idea is to improve our players,
improve our challenge, but I don’t know if
we are better. I’m not more confident but I
have more options.”
Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac,
who missed the Newcastle game
because of security fears, are
back in the squad.
Arsenal had five captains
last season but three –
Laurent Koscielny, Petr
Cech and Aaron Ramsey- have left. Granit
Xhaka, a doubt today
because of injury, Ozil
and Nacho Monreal
will share the job
but Emery will wait
to appoint another
two. “Our squad is
not how it will look
when the
transfer market
finishes in
Europe,” he
added.
138 M WORRIES
FOR THE BOSS
(^25) / 1
Arsenal to
win 3-2