Malick Fofana

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Malick Fofana
Fofana asse ol 2425.png
Fofana with Lyon in 2025
Personal information
Full name Malick Martin Fofana
Date of birth (2005-03-31) 31 March 2005 (age 20)
Place of birth Aalst, Belgium
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Lyon
Number 11
Youth career
–2014 Eendracht Aalst
2014–2022 Gent
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022–2023 Jong Gent 13 (4)
2022–2024 Gent 41 (2)
2024– Lyon 49 (9)
International career‡
2020 Belgium U15 3 (0)
2021–2022 Belgium U17 10 (5)
2022–2023 Belgium U18 6 (2)
2022 Belgium U20 1 (0)
2023– Belgium U21 9 (0)
2024– Belgium 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:09, 31 August 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:30, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

Malick Martin Fofana (born 31 March 2005) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the Belgium national team.

Contents

Club career

Gent

Fofana started playing football at Eendracht Aalst before joining Gent's youth academy at the age of nine. He signed his first professional contract there in January 2022. [1] [2] [3]

After he already participated in the pre-season friendlies, [4] Fofana made his professional debut for Gent on the 30 July 2022, replacing Hugo Cuypers during a 1–1 home Division A draw against Sint-Truiden. [5] Only one week later, he was awarded his first start against Westerlo, leading his team to a 2–1 home victory. [6]

Lyon

On 10 January 2024, Fofana joined Ligue 1 side Lyon for a fee of €17 million, plus €5 million in add-ons, and a 20% sell-on clause on a future sale in favor of Gent; he signed a contract until June 2028 with the French club. [7] [8] [9] In the process, he became the third Belgian player in the history of Lyon, following Eric Deflandre and Jason Denayer. [9]

International career

Fofana is a youth international for Belgium, having first established himself as a regular goalscorer with the under-17 national team, [1] [2] with whom he played the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. [10]

In October 2024, Fofana received his first call-up to the senior Belgium national team for their 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and France. [11] He debuted against the former opponent on 14 October. [12]

Personal life

Born in Belgium, Fofana is of Guinean, French and Filipino descent. Fofana holds Guinean and French nationalities from his parents. [9] [13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 August 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] EuropeOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Jong Gent 2022–23 Belgian Division 1 134———134
Gent 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 220317 [b] 01 [c] 0331
2023–24 Belgian Pro League1922010 [b] 2—314
Total4125117210645
Lyon 2023–24 Ligue 1 17341——214
2024–25 Ligue 12952010 [d] 6—4111
2025–26 Ligue 1310000—31
Total49961106—6516
Career total103151122781014225

International

As of match played 10 October 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Belgium 202410
Total10

Honours

Lyon

References

  1. 1 2 "Officieel: AA Gent deal met Fofana". Voetbalbelgie.be (in Dutch). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 Fiammetti, Alexandre (20 January 2022). "La Gantoise offre un premier contrat professionnel à un énorme talent". Walfoot.be (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Gantoise : la pépite guinéenne Malick Fofana s'offre son premier contrat pro". Foot224 (in French). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  4. ↑ Vandenbussche, Bart (18 June 2022). "AA Gent opent voorbereiding met ruime zege, Sven Kums scoort pareltje". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  5. ↑ Woos, Loïc (30 July 2022). "Saint-Trond arrache un point sur la pelouse de La Gantoise". Walfoot.be (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Floren, Steve (7 August 2022). "Malick voor het eerst in de basis bij Gent: "Ik krijg heel veel berichtjes"". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "L'international Espoirs belge Malick Fofana s'engage avec l'OL jusqu'en 2028" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Transferts : Malick Fofana s'engage avec l'OL (officiel)". L'Équipe (in French). Éditions Philippe Amaury. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Lizin, Cédric (10 January 2024). "Le Diablotin Malick Fofana quitte La Gantoise et file à Lyon contre 22 millions d'euros". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  10. ↑ Defawe, Maxence (12 May 2022). "Fofana, Mawete, Monticelli : 3 pépites belges à suivre durant l'Euro U17" (in French). RTBF . Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  11. ↑ "Geen De Bruyne en Lukaku bij Rode Duivels, wel selectie voor Fofana, Ngonge, Smets en Vandevoordt". Sporza (in Dutch). 4 October 2024.
  12. ↑ Huët, Julien (14 October 2024). "Belgique-France : le Lyonnais Malick Fofana, petit Diable, grand talent". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  13. ↑ Silas, Don (4 September 2024). "'My mother is from France' - Fofana on why he snubbed France, Guinea". Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  14. ↑ "PSG beat Lyon 2–1 to win French Cup final in Mbappe's farewell appearance". Reuters. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
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