On loan Arsenal man Pépé picked up a knee injury last month, freeing up a space on the wing in Didier Digard's preferred 4-3-3 formation, and Algeria youngster Brahimi has seized his chance.

The 22-year-old has been on target in consecutive wins over Olympique de Marseille and AC Ajaccio, and, excitingly for fans of les Aiglons, he looks to be a scorer of great goals as much as a great scorer of them.

Back story:

Born in Beaumont-sur-Oise, a commune 60 kilometres north of Paris, Brahimi shares a hometown with Paris Saint-Germain pair Presnel Kimpembe and Timothée Pembélé, but he has taken a relative tourist route to the top.

He left for Portugal at the age of 16, signing for second-tier side Leixoes, and after impressing for their age group teams made the move to Middlesbrough one year later. But it was on returning to France 'to be closer to family' in 2019 that things began to take off.

Brahimi signed with Stade de Reims before going on loan to Le Mans FC the season before last. He plundered 12 goals and 10 assists from 34 third-tier games that campaign and Angers SCO bought him soon after.

He spent less than five months at the Stade Raymond Kopa before Nice took a gamble on his talent last January, paying €10 million for his services and made his Algeria debut later that year, spurning France, whom he had played for up to under-19 level.

Style of play:

Brahimi is capable of playing across the final third, but his recent goal glut makes plain that he can wreak the most havoc on the right, from where he can cut inside and finish on his favoured left foot, sometimes from impressive range.

His five progressive carries per 90 minutes are more than any other winger has averaged in Ligue 1 Uber Eats this season, while he also boasts four shot-creating actions per game.

Current campaign:

Brahimi has had to be patient this season. Digard's predecessor Lucien Favre often played a four-man midfield which wasn't conducive to mercurial wingers, and when Digard took charge and changed the system, Pépé and Sofiane Diop got the nod out wide in a 6-1 win over Montpellier Hérault SC.

Brahimi has still been benched in recent weeks, but he has been increasingly thrown into the action, subbed on in the wins against Marseille and Ajaccio. Having averaged a goal every 16 minutes of late, he is line for a start against former club Reims on Saturday.

Watch: Highlights of Nice's 3-0 win over Ajaccio 

What they said:

"I don't have any particular comments about him. I trust him because he deserves it and he listens. He generally hasn't been rewarded for his efforts with goals, but that's starting to change. We just told him what we saw in him."

- Digard on his ever-improving player.

"I'm happy and I hope it continues like this. I think my second goal was harder. I heard the coach say 'shoot' so I shot and it went in, so I'm happy! It was a difficult game but in the end it opened up and we managed to score. Finally, I say 'thank you' to Nicolas Pépé for not leaving!"

- Brahimi on his Ajaccio brace, and admiration for Pépé.