David Datro Fofana (born 22 December 2002) is an Ivorian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

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for club Chelsea, and the Ivory Coast national team.

Club career

Early career

Fofana began his career in the Ivory Coast with Abidjan City, before joining AFAD on loan in 2019. He was heavily scouted by French, Belgian and Norwegian clubs. On 2 February 2021, Fofana signed a professional contract with Norwegian club

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

on a free transfer, signing for four years. He debuted with Molde in a 3–3

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

tie with

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

on 18 February 2021, scoring his side's third goal in the 74th minute.

Chelsea

On 28 December 2022, it was announced that Fofana would join English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side Chelsea on 1 January 2023. On 8 January 2023, Fofana came off the bench to make his Chelsea debut in a 4–0 loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Loan to Union Berlin

On 11 July 2023, Chelsea announced that Fofana would join

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

on a season-long loan. He was recalled by Chelsea on 11 January 2024.

Loan to Burnley

Two days after returning to Chelsea, Fofana was loaned to fellow Premier League club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

until the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. On 3 February 2024, he scored his first goals for Burnley by netting a brace in a 2–2 draw against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. On 21 May 2024, Burnley confirmed the player was returning to Chelsea.

Loan to Göztepe

On 13 September 2024, Fofana was loaned to newly-promoted Turkish club Göztepe until the end of the 2024–25 season. On 3 February 2025, Chelsea recalled Fofana back from his loan due to an injury keeping him out for the remainder of the season.

International career

Fofana made his international debut with the Ivory Coast national team in a 2–0 CHAN 2020 loss to

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

on 22 September 2019. On 22 March 2023, Fofana was the captain of the Ivory Coast's U23 national team in a friendly game against Morocco U23, which Ivory Coast won 3–2.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Molde *

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website *
Molde FK profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fofana, David Datro 2002 births Living people People from Gagnoa Footballers from Gôh-Djiboua District Ivorian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Molde FK players Chelsea F.C. players 1. FC Union Berlin players Burnley F.C. players Göztepe S.K. footballers Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast) players Eliteserien players Premier League players Bundesliga players Süper Lig players Ivory Coast men's under-20 international footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey 21st-century Ivorian sportsmen