David Datro Fofana

[robsblubot 3,249]

2 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Compare young strikers to G.Jesus is just unfair, he went from the Brazilian league straight to City and played 5+ seasons for them.  

The one thing I like about Fofana is the raw talent, you can see he wants to make things happen.  I don't know if he'll be ready to play for Chelsea week in week out but considering Boehly's youth movement at the club, he'd fit right in with all the other youngsters we seem to be hoarding. 

I actually watched Jesus play for Palmeiras and his ability on the ball was second to none at the time. I've watched many famous players at youth level (played for fun with some too 😉 ) and it's abundantly obvious when a player is special in how he treats the football. Endrik for example is fairly obvious in the first touch, decisions, and inventiveness.

"the raw talent, you can see he wants to make things happen" I don't quite see the first, and the second part is far less important than fans think it is, IMO.
Like I said, he may be improving well and will eventually become a valuable asset, I just did not see all that talent for a 21yo to be an important player for us; and we need important players atm not yet another project.

I'm curious to see what the owners will do once they start losing money by not competing at this level. How long without CL will they "trust" in their little pet project?
 

[MoroccanBlue 5,206]

Fofana ideally would need another PL loan. If he continues this trajectory, I can see him being a part of the squad with Paez in 2025. 

 

[Vesper 27,364]

Is Chelsea’s David Datro Fofana proving himself Premier League-ready at Burnley?

https://theathletic.com/5375457/2024/03/29/datro-fofana-Chelsea-burnley/

Asked to describe himself as a player during a standard in-house interview to introduce himself to Burnley supporters in January, David Datro Fofana’s response went a little off-script.

“I can say I’m a funny guy,” he said with a broad smile, before adding: “I’m also lazy… sometimes, not all the time…”

Prompted to clarify by the interviewer, he continued: “Off the pitch (I’m) lazy, but on the pitch I’m someone who works hard and (has) good vibes also with the team. I’m not shy.”

Fofana’s honesty was disarming, even charming. It also betrayed perhaps a measure of self-awareness after an unsatisfactory six-month loan spell at Union Berlin in which he became an unwitting symbol of the broader problems that helped derail the Bundesliga’s most remarkable success story under coach Urs Fischer.

But this is a tale of two loans; over the past three months, Fofana’s positive impact has contributed to renewed hope at Burnley that a season spent almost entirely in the Premier League’s relegation zone could yet end in a remarkable escape. In the process, he is also establishing himself as a legitimate proposition in England’s top flight.

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The last 14 months have been quite a ride for Fofana, who became one of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital’s more speculative investments when he joined Chelsea from Molde for a transfer fee in excess of €10million (£8.5m; $10.8m) in January 2023.

Some who had watched him in Norway’s Eliteserien considered Fofana the level of talent that normally goes to a country like Belgium to develop before making the leap to the Premier League. Brighton and Hove Albion — who have an impressive track record of loaning to Belgian sister club Union St Gilloise — had been his most serious English suitors before Chelsea pounced. The coach of Anderlecht, a certain Vincent Kompany, was also an avowed admirer.

Instead, he went directly to one of Europe’s most demanding clubs, where his individual progress inevitably became something of an afterthought as first Graham Potter and then Frank Lampard wrestled with an unworkably bloated first-team squad. His only start lasted just 45 minutes and some bright solo flashes at Stamford Bridge were overshadowed by a miserable 1-0 defeat for Chelsea against relegation-bound Southampton.

Union Berlin seemed like a close-to-ideal next step: regular minutes playing in an upwardly-mobile team in a league that typically offers favourable conditions for fast, incisive attackers, plus the carrot of Champions League group-stage football. The fact it did not prove to be so was partly down to Fofana and partly down to the club he joined.

Qualifying for the Champions League in 2022-23 was a staggering achievement for Union Berlin, who played their first Bundesliga match in 2019. Fischer did it with a tight-knit core of players distinguished more by their collective spirit and commitment to the coach’s system than by their individual talent. Fofana was one of 15 permanent or loan signings last summer that upgraded the ability level of the squad at the expense of what had made them special.

Many of the new faces struggled to fit into Fischer’s hard-running counter-attacking approach, while the coach’s attempts to adapt were also unsuccessful. The result was a devastating run of 12 consecutive defeats in all competitions between September and November. This made Bundesliga relegation a distinct possibility while extinguishing hope of Champions League progression, punctuated by Fofana refusing to shake Fischer’s hand after being substituted in a 1-0 home loss to Napoli.

Fofana issued a sincere public apology while serving a one-week suspension and even earned praise from Fischer for his application on his return. His first Union Berlin goal followed in a 1-1 draw with the Italian champions in Naples, but punctuality and attendance at training were persistent problems during his time in Germany; one late arrival meant he even missed the meeting in which the squad were informed of Fischer’s sacking in December.

Even though not everything ran smoothly, Fofana felt supported by his team-mates and lessons were learned from his first experience of playing in one of Europe’s top-five leagues.

Still, early termination of the loan made sense for all parties. Sevilla made significant progress on a deal to bring Fofana to Spain for the second half of the season, but Chelsea’s decision to loan Ian Maatsen to Borussia Dortmund occupied the club’s last international loan spot. Burnley offered a compelling alternative: a chance to prove himself in the Premier League in a team wedded, for better or worse, to a progressive style of football. Knowing Kompany had attempted to sign him for Anderlecht earlier in his career was reassuring. The forward knew he was going to play for a coach that really wanted him.

Fofana settled very quickly, soon confiding to friends about feeling at home. He has seized the opportunity on and off the pitch. There have been no concerns raised about his professionalism and he is beginning to deliver the goals that Burnley so desperately craved, scoring on both of his last two starts, against West Ham and Brentford, after netting twice from the bench to secure a 2-2 draw with Fulham at Turf Moor in February.

Operating at the head of Vincent Kompany’s fluid 4-2-3-1 in the absence of first-choice striker Lyle Foster, Fofana offers the skill to advance Burnley attacks with the ball at his feet and the speed to stretch opposing defences with direct runs in behind.

His four goals have also demonstrated an intriguing variety to his scoring threat: a header and poacher’s effort from crosses against Fulham, a long-range screamer into the top corner against West Ham, and a deft low dink into the bottom corner to beat Brentford, made even more impressive by the fact it followed him submitting a contender for miss of the season by scuffing wide of an open goal from the middle of the six-yard box.

Despite that miss, Fofana is still slightly overperforming his expected goals at Burnley (four goals from an xG of 3.4), having underperformed at Union Berlin (one goal from an xG of 2.8). Player development is rarely linear, but it already seems clear that his positive impact at Turf Moor has changed the trajectory of what was shaping up to be a disappointing season.

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Fofana’s swift assimilation into the Burnley dressing room was underlined by the dance celebration he unveiled with team-mate Wilson Odobert after the pair combined for his goal against Brentford. Joining a group that has refused to allow regular defeats to dampen their spirits has suited Fofana, whose smiley demeanour has quickly endeared him to fans.

Another factor is his huge respect for Kompany, who he regards as a coach who knows the best way to develop young footballers in the Premier League — as well as lead. Burnley’s manager has been notably measured with his praise as he seeks to spur on his new striker.

“He can still get better,” Kompany said of Fofana after the Brentford victory. “That’s what we want to do with him because he scored one but he could have scored two or three. For probably 45 minutes he gave us what we needed defensively, but the other 45 minutes he could have done more.”

It helps that Kompany was a team-mate of Kolo Toure, the Ivorian legend who has assumed an informal role as a career mentor. “We talk a lot, he is like a family friend,” Fofana said of his countryman in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper Nettavisen in 2022. “He gives me good feedback. We Africans can say: ‘That is an uncle’, but he is not — but he is someone who means a lot to me. We show each other respect.”

Chelsea’s loan department are in regular contact with Fofana, led by long-serving loan technical coach Carlo Cudicini, and the club are happy with his progress. It is far too soon to know his next step and he is focusing on the immediate task of firing Burnley towards Premier League safety rather than agonising about the longer-term future.

But while his Union Berlin experience should be a warning against unbridled optimism, Fofana’s emergence as Burnley’s go-to goalscorer suggests he is closer to becoming a consistently impactful Premier League striker than many thought last summer. Chelsea will be relieved that he cannot take the field against them on Saturday.