Wylan Jean-Claude Cyprien (born 28 January 1995) is a French professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who plays as a
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
for Chinese club
Changchun Yatai
Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...
.
Early life
Born in
Les Abymes
Les Abymes (; ) is the most populous commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is located on the west side of the island of Grande-Terre, and is part of the largest metropolitan area of Gua ...
,
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
, France on 28 January 1995, Cyprien moved to metropolitan France at a young age.
Club career
Lens
Cyprien began his youth career at
Paris FC
Paris Football Club (French pronunciation: Help:IPA/French, aʁi futbol klœb, commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris, France. They will compete in Ligue ...
, before moving to Lens in 2008. He is a graduate of the
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...
youth academy and made his debut for the first team in 2012. He passed through the youth ranks in July 2012. He helped Lens win promotion to Ligue 1, following a second place finish during the
2013–14 Ligue 2
The 2013–14 Ligue 2 was the 75th season of second-tier football in France. The season began on 2 August 2013 and ended on 16 May 2014, with the winter break in effect between 20 December and 10 January.
Teams
Stadia and locations
...
season. The following campaign, Cyprien scored two goals and set up a further two, as Lens finished last and went straight back down to the second division. He made over 100 appearances for Lens, before his transfer to Nice in 2016.
Nice
On 27 July 2016,
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
club
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the Ligue 1 season, coming on as a second-half substitute for
Vincent Marcel
Vincent Marcel (born 9 April 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Nîmes.
Club career Nice
Marcel is a youth exponent from Le Havre AC. He made his Ligue 1 debut for OGC Nice on 14 August 2016 against St ...
in a 1–0 victory over
Rennes
Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
.
Cyprien's first goal for the club came in the
Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
on 29 September 2016, a consolation goal in his side's 5–2 defeat to Russian club
Krasnodar
Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...
in the group stage of the competition.
On 10 March 2017, Cyprien picked up an ACL injury in a
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
match against
SM Caen
Stade Malherbe Caen (; commonly known as SM Caen, Malherbe, or simply Caen) is a French professional football team, based in the city of Caen in Normandy, that competes in the Championnat National from 2025–26 after relegation from Ligue 2 i ...
, a game that finished 2–2, and he was ruled out a day later for the remainder of the season.
Cyprien spent much of the first-half of the 2017–18 campaign on the sidelines and he eventually appeared in just 946 minutes of Ligue 1 action. On 2 March 2018, Cyprien assisted
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa.
Balotelli started his ...
's opening goal and scored the winning goal with a volley in Nice's Ligue 1 2–1 home win over
Lille OSC
Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...
.
2019–20 season
Cyprien made his season debut in the first round of Ligue 1 fixtures against
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
on 10 August 2019, assisting
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
's winning goal in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time. A week later, he scored his first goal of the season, converting from the penalty spot, before assisting
Ignatius Ganago
Ignatius Ganago (born 16 February 1999) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution, on loan from Ligue 1 club Nantes and the Cameroon national team.
Club career
Early ca ...
for the game winning goal over
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
.
On 18 October, Cyprien picked up two yellow cards and was sent off in a 4–1 home loss to reigning champions PSG. Two months later on 7 December, Cyprien scored two goals and earned man of the match honours as Nice defeated
FC Metz
Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...
in the 17th round of
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
fixtures by a score of 4–1.
Parma
On 5 October 2020, Cyprien signed with
Parma
Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
. He joined the
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
side on a
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
-long loan, potentially to become a permanent deal running until June 2025 upon the meeting of performance-based objectives.
Loan to Nantes
The transfer to Parma became permanent at the end of the season. On 24 June 2021, he was loaned to
FC Nantes
Football Club de Nantes, commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Naunnt''), is a French professional association football, football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 Ap ...
for the 2021–22 season.
Loan to Sion
On 9 August 2022, Cyprien joined Sion in Switzerland on loan with an option to buy.
Changchun Yatai
On 28 January 2025, Cyprien moved to
Changchun Yatai
Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...
in China.
International career
Cyprien is a former France youth international, having been capped at U16, U18, U19 and U21 levels.
Career statistics
Honours
Nantes
*
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...
Serie B
The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...