Dàtro Fofana is going to Burnley after all.
“Burnley Football Club are delighted to confirm the signing of striker David Dattro Fofana on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season, subject to the approval of the Premier League and the FA,” Burnley confirmed on the club’s official website on Wednesday.
Fofana joined Chelsea in December 2022 after a breakout season with Norwegian League Soccer side Molde. As a promising youngster, Chelsea didn’t give him much of a chance. At first, he appeared in bits and pieces as a substitute, but at some point, he wasn’t even on the substitutes’ list.
The reason for this was that he was found to be disrespectful in training, even at the U-21 level, where he played after the first team, and this behavior caught the eye of the coaching staff and he was subsequently dropped from the U-21 team.
He eventually moved to Union Berlin on a simple loan and struggled there as well. He looked good in preseason, but once the regular season got underway, he completely lost his place in the starting lineup, scoring just once in his last 12 games.
He started the Champions League match against Napoli, but was replaced by Kevin Verens after 70 minutes. Here’s where things went wrong. On his way to the bench, Fofana couldn’t contain his emotions. He shook off coach Urs Fischer’s hand as he came off the bench.
He didn’t even give Fischer a glance. His mood continued to be low afterward. His Union teammates tried to calm him down and Rani Khedira put her arm around him. Lunert also approached him and spoke to him.
“It’s about the team,” Fisher said. It’s always about how you act after you make a decision. Soccer is still a team sport and sometimes you have to accept that. I hope he learns from this situation.”
Eventually, after failing to develop, Fofana became Burnley’s first signing of the January transfer window. After his loan move, Fofana said: “It feels really good to be here, I’m really happy. It’s going to be a really good place for me to develop and I think it’s the perfect transfer for me.”
He continued, “It will be very good to work with Kompany. I’ve already watched a few games and I think it’s the right place for me to take the next step. Burnley have been in the Premier League before this season and were champions last year, so I’ve known them for a long time and I’m looking forward to being part of the team.”
Subject to Premier League and FA approval, Fofana will be available for Burnley’s next game, away to Manchester City.