If you’re ever hungry for a through-ball assist…
Give thanks to Thiago Mendes, for fixing you up a meal:
The search for tonight’s assist was a tough one—why?
This Lille team performed one too many.
There was Thiago Mendes, delivering the gorgeous through-ball to Pépé.
And then, minutes later, Pépé himself produced a bit of beauty…
Setting up Rafael Leão, with a ball at least 99% as good:
Nicolas Pepe’s assist for Rafael Leão 😱😍#SMCLOSC
— Taz (@TazPhalora) January 11, 2019
Then came the celebration.
Nicolas Pépé is starting to make those who doubt whether he can cut it at the very top level look very silly! Yes, that includes me! I'll happily hold my hands up! Another goal & 2 assists tonight, he is fast becoming #Ligue1 's most desirable transfer asset…. 🇨🇵 pic.twitter.com/1THQp97Fg9
— Kris Carpenter ⭐⭐ (@AFCfreddie8) January 11, 2019
And then, the wondering:
Why hasn’t this guy made his way to one of the top clubs in Europe?
You think back to Eden Hazard, playing for this very same Lille team—and then on to Chelsea, and the success of a Belgium national team that grew up around him.
Gervinho, too—a kind of Lille-to-EPL pipeline ready to start flowing again.
So maybe, soon, it’s coming.
Arsenal, United, City, Barcelona, Bayern . . . the world's best teams want him, but who exactly is Nicolas Pépé? @JamesGheerbrant analyses the exciting Lille forward https://t.co/Qwnfb4yuyT
— Times Sport (@TimesSport) January 18, 2019
And maybe, like Didier Drogba and Yaya Touré…
The Ivory Coast has a superstar again.