Focus: Ex Man City youth Fofana is turning into a star
Andrea Distaso
Seko Fofana’s brace last night confirms what many of us thought: Udinese have found themselves another gem.
Fofana was discovered by Manchester City while he was playing for French club Lorient, and immediately impressed for his running ability, as well as his gritty work in midfield and his very advanced read of the game.
Voted as the Sky Blues’ Reserve Team Player of the Year in 2013/2014 - where he scored 6 goals, provided 7 assists, and was coached by Patrick Vieira - Fofana also had setbacks, kicking out at an opponent who had racially abused him in a friendly against Rijeka, resulting in a red card.
Fofana didn’t let this get him down, doing well on loans to Fulham and Bastia, before moving to Udinese for €3.5 million, plus €2m more in bonuses. Though the Pozzo family initially wanted to send him on loan (preferably to a friendly club like Watford), the 21-year-old impressed old Coach Giuseppe Iachini so much that he was kept with the first team squad, starting the first two games of the seasoin.
Returning to performance admirably against Juventus, Fofana has since gone on a roll, doing well both as a box-to-box guy and on the wing.
Criticized in summer for going for young, cheap and mostly foreign talent, Udinese may just have turned the tables on us once again.
