He was named in the Ivorian senior squad for the first time for the friendlies against Angola and Qatar in November 2007, and was picked for the Ivorian squad for their 2008 African Cup of Nations campaign in Ghana where he was given the number 10 shirt. He made his competitive debut for the Ivorian club during the 2008 Nations Cup where he made two substitute appearances.

On 21 July 2009, Gervinho joined Lille for a reported fee of about €6 million (8.5 million USD) on a three-year contract. Gervinho scored 13 times in 32 appearances in his debut season for the club. His first goal for Lille came in a 3–2 victory away to US Boulogne on 4 October 2009.

On 15 January 2010, Gervinho scored his third international goal in the African Nations Cup group stage game against Ghana. He made a total of three appearances in the tournament, scoring once.

Gervinho made only three appearances, all as a substitute, in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup but still scored twice. On 15 June 2010, he played his first match in a World Cup. He played 82 minutes in Ivory Coast’s opening match in Group G against Portugal, which ended 0–0. In total he made three appearances in the World Cup.

On 12 July 2011 Gervinho completed a transfer from Lille to Arsenal for a fee believed to be around £10.8 million. Gervinho was given the number 27 shirt, which was last worn by Ivory Coast teammate Emmanuel Eboué who was already on the verge of leaving the club. He made his debut in a pre-season friendly match against 1. FC Köln, in which he scored a brace within the first 15 minutes. He was sent off on his Premier League debut against Newcastle United for slapping Joey Barton. The game finished 0–0. This resulted in a standard three-match ban for violent conduct. Alan Pardew (manager of Newcastle United) accused Gervinho of diving when Cheick Tioté challenged him inside the box. He scored his first league goal in a 4–3 loss to Blackburn Rovers. On 23 October 2011 Gervinho followed this up by contributing to all three goals in Arsenal’s 3–1 win over Stoke City, scoring the first and assisting both of Robin van Persie’s goals. He then scored his third goal for Arsenal on 3 December 2011, in a 4–0 win at Wigan Athletic, scoring the third goal of the match in a comfortable victory. He scored his fourth goal of his time at Arsenal on 27 December 2011 in the 1–1 draw against Wolves. Gervinho then departed for the Africa Cup of Nations after a 2–1 defeat to Fulham. Gervinho made his return on 18 February 2012 in the FA Cup match against Sunderland which ended in a 2–0 defeat that knocked Arsenal out of the 2011–12 FA Cup.

On 8 August 2013, Arsenal sold Gervinho to Italian club A.S. Roma for €8 million. He made his first appearance for Roma as a substitute against Livorno on 25 August. It took until 25 September for Gervinho to score his first official goal for Roma, finishing from close range after an assist from Francesco Totti, which sealed a 2–0 defeat of Sampdoria. In the following Serie A match, he helped Roma record six straight victories to begin the season by netting two goals in their 5–0 defeat of Bologna.

In the quarter-final round of the Coppa Italia on 21 January 2014, Gervinho netted the game’s only goal with an acrobatic finish from a Kevin Strootman pass to advance past Juventus and into the semi-finals. In the first leg of their semi-final tie with Napoli on 5 February, Gervinho netted twice, including a late game-winning goal to send Roma into the second leg with a 3–2 advantage.

On 30 August 2014, Gervinho scored in the Roma’s second goal in a 2–0 win over Fiorentina to start the 2014–15 season. He scored his first goals in European competition for Roma on 17 September 2014, netting twice in the 5–1 Champions League group stage victory over CSKA Moscow.

In January 2016, Gervinho moved to newly promoted Chinese Super League team Hebei China Fortune for a reported initial fee of €18 million. On 4 March 2016, Gervinho scored on his competitive debut in a 1–2 away win against Guangzhou R&F on the opening game of the 2016 Chinese Super League.

In October 2016, Gervinho ruptured the ligaments in his left knee whilst in training for Hebei China Fortune. As a result of this, he missed the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

On 17 August 2018, Gervinho returned to Serie A by signing for Parma Calcio 1913 alongside his former Roma teammate Salih Uçan. He made his Parma debut as a substitute in a 1–0 away loss to S.P.A.L. nine days later, and on 1 September he scored on his first start for the club, a 2–1 home defeat to reigning champions Juventus. Three weeks afterwards, he scored a “staggering goal” in a 2–0 home win over Cagliari by running with the ball up the whole pitch. In Serie A round 22, on 2 February 2019, he scored two goals to earn a draw for Parma against Juventus in final score 3–3.

In October 2019 he extended his contract with Parma until 30 June 2022.