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Nicolas Pepe's journey from a young goalkeeper to Arsenal’s record signing

Nicolas Pepe has revealed how he started his football career including the sacrifices made by his parents.

Pepe was last week announced as an Arsenal player for a reported club-record fee of £72 million.

The Ivorian moved to the Emirates Stadium from French side Lille – where he honed his skills as a forward – scoring 35 times from 74 appearances.

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However, the 24-year-old started out in goal at local side Solitaire Paris Est, before going on to become an outfield player.

“My family emigrated from Ivory Coast to France in 1995 and used to tell me about how difficult that was, especially when we were at school.