 Fofana withIvory Coast at the2023 Africa Cup of Nations | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Seko Mohamed Fofana[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1995-05-07)7 May 1995 (age 30) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Paris, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Rennes | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2010 | Paris FC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Lorient | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Manchester City | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Manchester City | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Fulham (loan) | 21 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | →Bastia (loan) | 32 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2020 | Udinese | 112 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Lens | 103 | (17) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2025 | Al-Nassr | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | →Al-Ettifaq (loan) | 27 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Rennes | 26 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | France U16 | 12 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | France U17 | 11 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | France U18 | 7 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | France U19 | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017– | Ivory Coast | 27 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:38, 7 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:13, 9 September 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Seko Mohamed Fofana (born 7 May 1995) is a professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder forLigue 1 clubRennes. Born in France, he plays for theIvory Coast national team.
Born inParis, France, Fofana began his youth career atParis FC when he was nine and stayed there for six years before joiningLorient.[2] After two years at Lorient,[2] he moved toEngland when he joinedPremier League sideManchester City in 2013 and was immediately sent to thedevelopment squad.[3]
Fofana began to be a regular in the under-18s in the 2013–14 season, making 20 appearances and scoring 5 goals in the league and playing 7 times scoring twice inthe club'sUEFA Youth League campaign againstCSKA Moscow[4] andBenfica Juniors.[5] DuringManchester City's U21 friendly match againstHNK Rijeka, he was racially abused by one of the opposition player just before half-time. As a result, players from Manchester City's U21 squad walked off the pitch, prompting the match to be cancelled.[6] After the match, ManagerPatrick Vieira praised the action of the players to walk out.[7]
On 27 November 2014, Fofana signed forChampionship sideFulham on loan until 31 January 2015.[8] He made his Fulham debut two days later, where he came on as a substitute forEmerson Hyndman in the 63rd minute, in a 2–1 win overBrighton & Hove Albion.[9] His form and performance convinced Fulham to extend the loan spell until the end of the season.[10] He scored his first goal for the club on 21 March 2015 to secure a 2–0 win away toHuddersfield Town.[11] Having established himself under the management ofKit Symons,[12] Fofana went on to make 25 appearances scoring once before returning to his parent club.
.JPG)
After making two appearances for City during their pre-season tour in Australia (playing the second half of a 2–0 win overAdelaide United,[13] and coming on as a latesubstitute in Manchester City's 1–0 win overMelbourne City),[14] thePremier League club agreed to send Fofana out on loan again to gain further experience. The Frenchman subsequently returned to his native France, to joinBastia on a season-long loan on 29 July 2015.[15] He made hisLigue 1 debut in the opening game of the season 10 days later, on 8 August 2015, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2−1 win at home toRennes.[16] He then scored his first goal on 12 December 2015, in a 1–1 draw againstTroyes,[17] followed up by assisting in the next game on 19 December 2015, in a 2–0 win overReims.[18] In a 1–0 win overMontpellier on 16 January 2016, Fofana received a straight red card in the 65th minutes.[19] After the match, he was given a four match ban[20] and Fofana, himself, apologised for his action.[21] In total, he made 32 appearances and scoring once for Bastia.
After three years at Manchester City, Fofana joinedSerie A sideUdinese, signing a five-year deal for worth £2.5 million.[22] In addition, the move included a possible €2 million bonus and Bastia receiving 15% of the total compensation, up to €700K.[23] Fofana made his Udinese debut in the opening game of the season playing 79 minutes before being substituted, in a 4–0 loss againstRoma.[24]
On 18 August 2020, Fofana signed a four-year contract withLigue 1 clubLens.[25] He scored his first goal on 21 February 2021 againstDijon. After a string of good performances, he was awarded theLigue 1 Player of the Month for September 2021. In May 2022, Fofana won thePrix Marc-Vivien Foé as the best African player in France's top flight for the2021–22 campaign, following a season in which he scored eight goals in 37 appearances.[26] On 31 August 2022, he signed a contract extension with the club until 2025.[27]
On 18 July 2023, Fofana joinedSaudi Pro League clubAl Nassr on a three-year deal, reportedly for a fee of €25 million.[28]
On 30 January 2024, Fofana joined fellow Saudi Arabian sideAl-Ettifaq on a six-month loan.[29][30] On 17 August 2024, Fofana re-joined Al-Ettifaq on a one-year loan.[31]
On 1 January 2025, Fofana returned to Ligue 1 and joinedRennes on a four-and-a-half years contract.[32][33] The transfer was completed for a fee of €20 million, establishing him as the most expensive sale in the history of the Saudi Pro League.[34]
Fofana was eligible to play forFrance andIvory Coast, as his parents come from there.[35] Fofana previously representedFrance U16,France U17,France U18 andFrance U19. On 3 April 2017, Fofana chose to represent the Ivory Coast, the country of his parents.[36]
Fofana made his debut for Ivory Coast in a 2–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification loss toMorocco on 11 November 2017.[37]
In December 2023, Fofana was named in the Ivory Coast's squad for the2023 Africa Cup of Nations.[38][39][40] He scored the opening goal of the tournament four minutes into Ivory Coast's 2–0 win overGuinea-Bissau on 13 January 2024.[41]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fulham (loan) | 2014–15 | Championship | 21 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||
| Bastia (loan) | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 1 | ||
| Udinese | 2016–17 | Serie A | 22 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 5 | ||
| 2017–18 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 3 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 2 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 112 | 13 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 177 | 15 | ||||
| Lens | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2021–22 | 38 | 8 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 41 | 10 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 35 | 7 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 39 | 9 | ||||
| Total | 103 | 17 | 9 | 4 | — | — | 112 | 21 | ||||
| Al-Nassr | 2023–24 | Saudi Pro League | 14 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2[b] | 0 | 6[c] | 1 | 25 | 3 |
| Al-Ettifaq (loan) | 2023–24 | 14 | 2 | — | — | — | 14 | 2 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 1 | 19 | 1 | |||
| Total | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 1 | 33 | 3 | |||
| Rennes | 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2025–26 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 2 | ||||
| Career total | 335 | 36 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 374 | 44 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivory Coast | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 7 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 September 2019 | Stade Robert Diochon,Rouen, France |  Tunisia | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | |
| 2 | 24 September 2022 |  Togo | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||
| 3 | 27 September 2022 | Stade de la Licorne,Amiens, France |  Guinea | 3–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 4 | 17 November 2023 | Alassane Ouattara Stadium,Abidjan, Ivory Coast |  Seychelles | 5–0 | 9–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | [44] |
| 5 | 20 November 2023 | National Stadium,Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |  Gambia | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 6 | 13 January 2024 | Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast |  Guinea-Bissau | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations | [41] |
| 7 | 7 June 2024 | Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium,Korhogo, Ivory Coast |  Gabon | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Al-Nassr
Ivory Coast
Individual
 | ||
