How far will Estéban Lepaul go? Two years after emerging in National, with Epinal, the center forward trained at OL became top scorer in Ligue 1 (20 goals) under the colors of Stade Rennais. He had only discovered the elite the year before with Angers SCO. The 26-year-old striker – remarkable number 9 in finishing and movement – is expected to join Zinédine Zidane’s French team, the first list of which will be given on Friday (6 p.m.).
The Blues obviously have an incredible offensive armada, which caused damage during the 2026 World Cup, around Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé or even Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola, but the arrival of Estéban Lepaul in this sector would perfectly complement the variety of profiles. Marcus Thuram plays in the center with Inter but in a two-man attack, while Jean-Philippe Mateta is a valiant pivot attacker but much less lethal.
Lepaul, Cherki’s teammate…
In the meantime, Estéban Lepaul is playing his very first European match, this Wednesday with Rennes, on the Sturm Graz field, in Austria. The son of Fabrice Lepaul (a former AJ Auxerre prospect) therefore studied at Olympique Lyonnais and experienced the Youth League (the U19 European Cup) in 2018-2019 with Castello Lukeba, Pierre Kalulu, Melvin Bard, Maxence Caqueret and Rayan Cherki. He then did not make it onto the Gones reserve team, helmed by Amine Gouiri, and trained with the pros without playing in L1.
Estéban Lepaul therefore does not arrive from nowhere. He is the very example of a promising player, trained in one of the best
academy of the country, but drowned in strong competition, with a profile perhaps too specific to these ages. The striker lost his father (following a road accident) and returned to his region of origin to play in N2, in Epinal, which then moved to the National. It was only in January 2024 that Angers recruited him, a few months before the move up to the elite. The rest is still being written today.
