Ex-Arsenal star slams his Elephants' teammate: 'He's not Ivorian!'

Born in Burkina Faso to a French father and a Burkinabe mother, and raised in France, where he moved at the age of nine, the Nantes loanee at the Greek Panathinaikos and the former Toulouse and Fiorentina custodian, Alban Lafont, decided to represent the Ivory Coast at the international level.

A somewhat surprising choice, especially since the Stallions had desperately tried to lure him to represent them and since he was called up for Les Blues in 2022. Still, he never debuted for Didier Deschamps' crew and eventually opted for the Elephants, as his maternal great-grandmother was from the Ivory Coast.

Despite moving through six of France's youth categories, Lafont switched allegiance last August and has already made two appearances for the reigning African champions, against Seychelles and Oman, keeping two clean sheets.

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Still, not all his Ivory Coast teammates are happy with him as a reinforcement - particularly the former Arsenal star Nicolas Pepe, who pretty harshly slammed the 26-year-old keeper.

"A player who chooses the French national team and then an African national team? I'll give you my opinion. If a player does that and I'm the coach or president of the federation, it's: no thanks, straight away. That means, for example, that Ivory Coast is your second option."

"It depends on the person. But regardless of the player, for me, it's: no thanks, straight away. We (the players) don't care, but we'll have a laugh," the current Villarreal winger said in an interview with the YouTuber Just Riadh, via RMC Sport.

However, Pepe did not stop there, claiming that Lafont wasn't Ivorian?!

"He's from Burkina Faso, but he chose Ivory Coast. People tease him about it, but it's not a problem. That's all there is to it. He's not Ivorian (laughs). But he has the passport (laughs)," he stated jokingly, though his word undoubtedly carry a grain of truth and honesty.

In the end, it will be interesting to see how Pepe's blunt statement would affect the atmosphere in Emerse Fae's team ahead of the continental tournament, which starts in 13 days.

The Ivory Coast have been drawn in Group F - a "group of death," according to many - alongside Cameroon, Gabon, and Mozambique, and will play their first match on December 24 against the Mambas.