Who is Nicolas Pepe?
Pepe was born and raised in Mantes-la-Jolie, 30 miles outside of Paris. At 17 he impressed at amateur side Poitiers before securing his first professional move to Angers.
Two years ago, Lille snapped Pepe up. His pace earned him comparisons to Eden Hazard who also shone at French football.
Who wants him?
Manchester United and Arsenal are perhaps the longest clubs to target Pepe. Besides these clubs, Real Madrid are reportedly interested since they are looking for a replacement for Gareth Bale.
The main problem for clubs willing to sign Pepe is that he wants to play in the Champions League next season. Lille have secured the second place in the Ligue 1 table that takes them to the European competition.
However, United are destined to play in the Europa League and Arsenal need to beat Chelsea in the Europa League to get to the CL.
What has he done on international duty?
Ivory Coast have been placed in a group with Morocco, Namibia and South Africa for the African Cup of Nations.
Pepe has 4 international goals so far, with the most recent coming in March in the 3-0 win over Rwanda in their final Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Why has he stood out this season?
Pepe has scored 21 times and provided 13 assists in the Ligue 1. He may be straightforward in his attacking approach but that directness is hard for defenders to nullify. Besides, Pepe was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.