Where the money comes from
| Rank | Joint 32nd of the 34 footballers in the Daily Star's full list, May 2022 Daily Star |
| Club then | Arsenal, which signed him from Lille in 2019 (Daily Star list) Daily Star |
Nicolas Pépé is an Ivorian winger who plays for Villarreal in La Liga. He made his name at Lille, where he was named to the Ligue 1 team of the year, and joined Arsenal in 2019 for a club-record fee of £72 million. He won the FA Cup with Arsenal, later played for Nice and Trabzonspor, and won the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.
The Sunday Times valued his wealth at £10 million in May 2022, about $13.4 million at the October 30, 2026 exchange rate. That put him joint 32nd among the 34 footballers on its list of the richest people in the UK aged 30 and under.
How he made his money
Pépé's wealth comes mainly from his Arsenal contract, signed when he became the club's record buy in 2019, plus his earlier wages at Lille and sponsorship deals. The £72 million transfer fee went to Lille, not to him.
He qualified for the British list because he was playing in England when it was compiled. The reports we checked did not break down his fortune.
Career at a glance
Born in Mantes-la-Jolie, France, to Ivorian parents, Pépé started out as a goalkeeper before switching to the wing. He began his senior career with Poitiers in France's fifth tier, signed for Angers in 2013 and had a loan spell at Orléans.
He broke through at Lille, then spent three seasons at Arsenal before loans and transfers took him to Nice, Trabzonspor and Villarreal. He made his Ivory Coast debut in 2016 and has played at four Africa Cup of Nations and the 2026 World Cup.
About this estimate
The Sunday Times publishes its Rich List every spring, along with a list of the 100 richest people in the UK aged 30 and under. The May 2022 edition included 34 footballers, and the Daily Star printed all of them with their figures. It valued Pépé's wealth at the amount shown on this page. The paper bases its numbers on identifiable wealth such as earnings after tax, property and company stakes, not on salary alone.
This is the most recent Sunday Times figure for Pépé that we could find. It has not been updated since 2022, so his wealth today is likely different. We show the figure as published, in pounds, with a rough dollar conversion at the October 30, 2026 exchange rate. Transfer fees and wages mentioned on this page are club spending or earnings, not wealth.
Career and money timeline
- 2017
Joins Lille from Angers.
- 2019
Makes the Ligue 1 team of the year and joins Arsenal for a club-record £72 million.
- 2020
Wins the FA Cup in his first season at Arsenal.
- 2022
Valued at £10 million on the Sunday Times Young Rich List, then joins Nice on loan.
- 2024
Wins the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast and joins Villarreal.
Nicolas Pépé net worth FAQ
What is Nicolas Pépé's net worth?
The Sunday Times Young Rich List valued Nicolas Pépé at £10 million in May 2022, joint 32nd among the 34 footballers on the list. That is about $13.4 million at the October 30, 2026 exchange rate, and it is the most recent Sunday Times figure we could find.
Where do these numbers come from?
The net worth figure is the Sunday Times Rich List's own published estimate, linked with its date at the top of the page. Every figure on this page is linked to its source below.
Sources
- Daily Star, Man Utd stars swamp Sunday Times Young Rich List as 34 footballers make the top 100 (full footballer list) (May 23, 2022)
- Background facts: Wikipedia, Nicolas Pépé (accessed November 2, 2026). Used for career facts only, never for money figures.
Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Every number on this page comes from the named source next to it. Totals and percentages are simple sums of those published figures. We never fill in missing years with our own guesses. How we handle estimates.