Gervinho is a winger who plays for English side Arsenal and Côte d’Ivoire. Gervais Yao Kouassi came through the ASEC Mimosas youth academy like a string of other Ivorian talents have done. That’s also where he was given the nickname Gervinho. He turned professional at 15 with Toumodi FC before leaving the Ivory Coast for Belgium two years later. Gervinho spent three seasons with the Belgian club Beveren, the last two as part of the senior team. In 2007 he joined the French Ligue 1 side Le Mans. In November that year he also made his debut in the Côte d’Ivoire senior national team, aged 20.
In July 2009 Gervinho transferred to Lille on a three year contract. They finished the 2009/10 season in 4th place before having a great 2010/11 season winning both the league and the French Cup. Gervinho made a big contribution by scoring 18 goals and caught the attention of several European clubs. On 12 July 2011 he signed for Arsenal, for a fee of £10.7 million. He received a red card in his Premier League debut but has since then rapidly settled in as a key player for the club.