In 1992, he left Olympique de Marseille for AC Milan in a record transfer; he won Serie A in 1994 and the UEFA Champions League.

In 1996, after their eight-month-old daughter was shown to have serious cerebral lesions, Jean-Pierre and his wife set up an association "Neuf de Coeur" (Nine of Hearts; Papin's shirt number was 9) to help others in that situation and, particularly, to find and apply methods to mentally and physically educate such children.

[7] Nevertheless, Papin has kept good memories of his spell in Italy and frequently cites former Milan managers Fabio Capello[10] and Arrigo Sacchi as his models when coaching is concerned.

[12] Towards the end of his spell with Bordeaux in 1998, he was a target for ambitious Fulham, then a Division Two (third tier) side, and even expressed his desire to sign for the club.

[15] Papin was selected for the first time in the French team during the Toulon Tournament in 1985 in Marseille with the number 14, alongside Pascal Baills, Stéphane Paille, Gérald Passi, Franck Sauzée, Vincent Cobos and Jean-Christophe Thomas.

The France team won the Toulon Tournament and successively defeated Spain (Jon Andoni Goikoetxea), Romania (Gheorghe Popescu), Ivory Coast (Joël Tiéhi) and England (Martin Allen).

Papin who suffers from the aftermath of an ankle injury cannot prevent France from failing in the first round, despite scoring two goals in three games[18] The French football team, trained by Gérard Houllier, played in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers but got off to a bad start (2–0 defeat in Bulgaria), but a series of 6 wins against Austria (twice), Finland (twice), Sweden and Israel put them back at the top of the group and in a very favorable position for qualification with three rounds to go.

The French team, undermined by internal quarrels (Marseille-Paris rivalry), however collapsed in the final sprint by conceding a draw in Sweden (1–1 on a defensive error three minutes from the end) and during the two last games played at home, where they only had to beat Israel or not lose against Bulgaria, to score the ticket for the United States.

Papin initially said goodbye to the Blues of which he was the captain after the elimination in qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, before being convinced by Aimé Jacquet to return.

Papin played his last international match against the Netherlands in January 1995, before injuries and the emergence of the Zinédine Zidane generation permanently removed him from the selection.

[citation needed] In 2006–07, he guided Strasbourg back to Ligue 1 with a third-placed finish but came under pressure shortly after the end of the season when internal conflicts at the club surfaced in the press.

Ironically, Papin eventually became the manager of Lens after the club lost at Strasbourg,[20] as Roux resigned only five games into the 2007–08 season.

Lens was also eliminated in the first round of both the UEFA cup and the Coupe de France by, respectively, FC Copenhagen (1–1; 1–2) and Second Division side Chamois Niortais (0–1, at home).

Papin was also iconic in French pop culture because of his caricature in the satirical TV puppet show Les Guignols de l'Info.

[citation needed] After his daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant, Papin started running the Neuf de cœur (Nine of Hearts) foundation, which provides support to families affected by the neurological disorder.