Wesley Fofana (footballer)

Wesley Tidjan Fofana (born 17 December 2000) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the France national team.

Not to be confused with Wesley Fofana (rugby union).

Wesley Fofana
Fofana playing for Leicester City in 2022
Personal information
Full name Wesley Tidjan Fofana[1]
Date of birth (2000-12-17) 17 December 2000[2]
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s) Centre-back[4]
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 33
Youth career
2006–2008 Repos Vitrolles
2008–2010 Bassin Minier
2010–2011 Pennes Mirabeau
2011–2015 Bel Air
2015–2018 Saint-Étienne
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Saint-Étienne II 21 (0)
2019–2020 Saint-Étienne 20 (1)
2020–2022 Leicester City 37 (0)
2022– Chelsea 15 (1)
International career‡
2020–2022 France U21 7 (0)
2023– France 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:33, 28 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 June 2023

Early and personal life

Fofana was born in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.[5] His father is Ivorian, whereas his mother is French.[6] One of six children, he started playing football at the age of six playing for Repos Vitrolles.[7]

Fofana is Muslim. On 22 April 2021, he was substituted on the hour mark during Leicester's 3–0 win against West Bromwich Albion, while Fofana was daytime fasting for the month-long Islamic Ramadan.[8] In the next match against Crystal Palace, the game was paused after the half-hour mark to allow Fofana and Cheikhou Kouyaté to have some fluids to break their Ramadan fast.[9]

Fofana showed his support for the Palestinians after winning the 2021 English FA Cup Final by waving a large Palestinian flag, along with fellow Leicester City teammate Hamza Choudhury, during their team celebrations that took place amidst the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian clashes in May 2021.[10]

Club career

Saint-Étienne

Having been in the youth system since 2015, Fofana signed his first professional contract with Saint-Étienne on 15 May 2018.[11] He made his debut for the club in a 3–0 league win over Nice on 18 May 2019.[12]

Leicester City

Fofana joined English Premier League club Leicester City on 2 October 2020, signing a five-year contract.[13] The transfer fee paid to Saint-Étienne was reported as up to £36.5 million.[14] On 15 May 2021, he played in the 2021 FA Cup Final, which Leicester won 1–0 for his first career honour in England.[15] He and teammate Hamza Choudhury both celebrated draped in the flag of Palestine, during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.[16]

On 21 May 2021, Fofana won Leicester City's Young Player of the Season award after being voted by the club's supporters.[17]

On 4 August 2021, during a pre-season friendly against Villarreal, Fofana suffered a broken leg following a challenge by Fer Niño.[18] On 17 March 2022, Fofana played his first match since his injury, scoring in a 2–1 defeat to Stade Rennais in the UEFA Europa Conference League which secured Leicester's progress to the next round on a 3–2 aggregate score.[19]

Chelsea

On 31 August 2022, Fofana joined Premier League club Chelsea on a seven-year contract[20] for a reported initial fee of £70 million, plus £5 million in add-ons.[21][22] After signing for Chelsea, Fofana criticised his former club Leicester, accusing them of issuing "false and misleading comments" during his protracted transfer.[23] On 3 September, he made his debut for the club in a 2–1 win at home against West Ham United in the Premier League.[24] He scored his first goal for Chelsea on 5 October in a Champions League 3–0 victory against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, but suffered a major knee injury after 38 minutes, forcing him to be substituted off, and was ruled out until February.[25]

Fofana returned from injury on 18 February 2023, in a 0–1 home defeat against Southampton.[26] He scored his first ever Premier League goal against Leeds United on 4 March, in a 1–0 home victory.[27] On 18 July 2023, Chelsea revealed that Fofana had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and had undergone a surgery.[28]

International career

In March 2023, Fofana received his first call-up to the France senior national team for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.[29] However, he was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 28 May 2023[30]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Saint-Étienne 2018–19 Ligue 1 200000—20
2019–20 Ligue 1 14161202[lower-alpha 3]0242
2020–21 Ligue 1 40———40
Total 201612020302
Leicester City 2020–21 Premier League 28040006[lower-alpha 3]0380
2021–22 Premier League 7000005[lower-alpha 4]1121
2022–23 Premier League 20—00—20
Total 3704000111521
Chelsea 2022–23 Premier League 15100005[lower-alpha 5]1202
Career total 722101201821025
  1. Includes Coupe de France, FA Cup
  2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue, EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 16 June 2023[31]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 202310
Total10

Honours

Saint-Étienne

Leicester City

Individual

References
  1. "2022/23 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. "Wesley Fofana: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. "Wesley Fofana". Chelsea Football Club. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  4. "Wesley Fofana: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. "Wesley Fofana". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  6. "France ou Côte d'Ivoire? La réponse de Wesley Fofana est tombée !". 18 November 2021.
  7. Hendrix, Hale (29 October 2020). "Wesley Fofana Childhood Story Plus Untold Biography Facts". LifeBogger. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  8. Blackwell, Jordan (23 April 2021). "Brendan Rodgers to protect 'remarkable' Wesley Fofana during Ramadan". Leicestershire Live. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  9. "Wesley Fofana: Leicester defender thanks Premier League after being allowed to break Ramadan fast mid-game". Sky Sports.
  10. "Leicester City soccer players raise Palestinian flag after UK cup victory". Times of Israel. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  11. @ASSEofficiel. "Wesley Fofana signe professionnel". ASSE.fr.
  12. "AS Saint-Etienne - OGC Nice (3-0) - Saison 2018/2019 - Ligue 1 Conforama". www.lfp.fr.
  13. "Wesley Fofana: Leicester sign French defender from Saint-Etienne on five-year contract". BBC Sport. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  14. Romano, Fabrizio (29 September 2020). "Leicester agree £36.5m deal to sign Wesley Fofana from St Etienne". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  15. "Chelsea 0-1 Leicester: Foxes lift FA Cup". UEFA. 15 May 2021.
  16. Donoghue, Eamon (15 May 2021). "Leicester duo celebrate FA Cup win with Palestine flag". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  17. "Tielemans Scoops Player Of The Season Double". Leicester City F.C. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  18. "Wesley Fofana: Leicester City defender suffers broken leg in friendly". BBC Sport. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  19. "Wesley Fofana marks Leicester comeback with decisive goal at Rennes". The Guardian. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  20. "Fofana signs for Chelsea". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  21. "Why 'generational talent' Wesley Fofana could prove to be a £70m bargain for Chelsea". Telegraph. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  22. "Wesley Fofana: Chelsea complete signing of Leicester's French defender in £75m deal". SkySports. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  23. "Wesley Fofana: Defender criticises former club Leicester City after Chelsea move". BBC Sport. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  24. "Substitute Kai Havertz scored a late winner as Chelsea recovered to record a dramatic victory over West Ham". BBC Sport. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  25. "Chelsea 3-0 AC Milan: Blues kickstart Champions League campaign with convincing win over Italian champions". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  26. "Chelsea 0-1 Southampton: James Ward-Prowse free-kick deepens gloom for Graham Potter". BBC Sport. 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  27. "Chelsea 1-0 Leeds United: Wesley Fofana scores to ease pressure on Graham Potter". BBC Sport. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  28. "Wesley fofana injury update". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  29. "La liste des vingt-trois Bleus". FFF (in French). 16 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  30. Wesley Fofana at Soccerway
  31. "Wesley Fofana". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  32. "Mbappé suffers ankle injury as PSG beat 10-man Saint-Étienne to lift French Cup". The Guardian. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  33. McNulty, Phil (15 May 2021). "Chelsea 0–1 Leicester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  34. "IFFHS".
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