Wesley Fofana (footballer)

Last updated

Wesley Fofana
Wesley Fofana 2022.jpg
Fofana playing for Leicester City in 2022
Personal information
Full name Wesley Tidjan Fofana [1]
Date of birth (2000-12-17) 17 December 2000 (age 23) [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 29
Youth career
2006–2008 Repos Vitrolles
2008–2010 Bassin Minier
2010–2011 Pennes Mirabeau
2011–2015 Bel Air
2015–2018 Saint-Étienne
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2018–2019 Saint-Étienne II 21 (0)
2019–2020 Saint-Étienne 20 (1)
2020–2022 Leicester City 37 (0)
2022– Chelsea 23 (1)
International career
2020–2022 France U21 7 (0)
2023– France 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:18, 27 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 June 2023

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.

Contents

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 of the Muslim Ramadan. [8] In the next match against Crystal Palace, the game was paused after the half-hour mark for Fofana and Cheikhou Kouyaté to have some fluids to end their fast. [9]

Fofana showed his support for the Palestinians after winning the 2021 English FA Cup Final by waving a large flag of Palestine, along with fellow Leicester City teammate Hamza Choudhury, during their team celebrations that took place amidst the 2021 Palestinian-Israeli 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 City, 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 2023. [25]

Fofana returned from injury on 18 February 2023, in a 1–0 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 (ACL) and had undergone a surgery. [28] In late November 2023, it was announced that Fofana had been cleared to resume training following his recovery from the ACL injury. [29] However, he was unable to feature in any match during the 2023–24 season due to his injury. [30]

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. [31] However, he was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury. He made his debut three months later in a crushing 14-0 victory over Gibraltar, where he provided two assists. [32]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 October 2024 [33]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [lower-alpha 1] League cup [lower-alpha 2] EuropeOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Saint-Étienne 2018–19 Ligue 1 20000020
2019–20 Ligue 114161202 [lower-alpha 3] 0242
2020–21 Ligue 14040
Total201612020302
Leicester City 2020–21 Premier League 28040006 [lower-alpha 3] 0380
2021–22 Premier League7000005 [lower-alpha 4] 1121
2022–23 Premier League200020
Total3704000111521
Chelsea 2022–23 Premier League15100005 [lower-alpha 5] 1202
2023–24 Premier League00000000
2024–25 Premier League800000000080
Total23100005100282
Career total80210120182001105

International

As of match played 16 June 2023 [34]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
France 202310
Total10

Honours

Saint-Étienne

Leicester City

Individual

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  37. "IFFHS".