African stars overseas: Seko Fofana the bustling Ivorian midfielder

Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations hero Seko Fofana will have no shortage of suitors although his immediate club future is a somewhat unclear.

The bustling midfielder, who was one of the stars of his country’s success at the continental championship on home soil at the start of the year, is waiting to see what happens with his Saudi Arabia team Al Nassr.

They look unlikely to retain him after sending the 29-year-old out on loan to Al Ettifaq in the second half of the season.

Fofana arrived at Al Nassr at the start of the 2023-24 season with much expectation after helping Racing Lens to finish second in France’s Ligue 1 in 2022-2023, only one point behind champion Paris St Germain.

He had been one of Lens’ mainstays and it was a big money move that tempted him away.

But he did not have the debut he hoped for with Al Nassr, where Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane are also on the books. After a mixed first half of the season, he went to the Cup of Nations and returned to find himself sent out on loan to the club that is coached by ex-England captain Steven Gerrard.

There he scored twice and provided two assists in 14 matches and as a result could move permanently to the Dammam-based club.

His value, however, is on the up-and-up after his role for the Ivorian Elephants, where he scored the opening goal of the tournament for them and remained a driving force through the initial tricky first round, where they narrowly avoided a calamity, and then all the way to winners’ podium.

It certainly settled the controversy over his investment in the country because only one year earlier he had made himself unavailable, ignoring call-ups from the Ivorians.

It earned him criticism in some quarters, like the media, but not from the fans because at the Cup of Nations finals whenever the team line-up was announced in the stadium, his name received the loudest cheers.

When he played in Lens, he completely skipped the Elephants for a year, before returning last October against Morocco once he had made his move to Al Nassr.

“People were divided on his case, but he was never rejected either, it was more like a love annoyance,” explained Guillaume Ahoutou of the Soir Info newspaper.

“There were two camps. One denounced his whims, his lack of will to come; the other thought Seko could bring something extra, so he had to come at all costs. When he is on the pitch, he has the talent and shows that he wants to play for this team.”

Then coach Jean-Louis Gasset was one of those who believed in the potential of his possible impact on his squad. For his first two outings under Gasset, in September 2022, Fofana had scored against Togo and then Guinea, but after that rejected call-ups.

Gasset had some sympathy with Fofana’s decision to concentrate on his club commitments, but in the end gave him an ultimatum to return … or not be invited back ever again.

“I went out of my way to get him back despite some small reservations,” said Gasset. “I knew what Seko would bring to the group, he has the mindset, the desire to do something big and he has the quality to score decisive goals.”

Former international Guy Demel did not like it at the time, however, and said so openly, on French television, where he was a analyst.

“No player would be above his national team, in this way in Europe. What image are you sending back to young people, to those under 20 years old? Will they only come whenever they want?”

That is now all water under the bridge with Fofana’s proving his worth, restoring his relationship with all Ivorians (without ever publicly apologizing), and proving his worth. Ironically Demel is now the assistant coach of the Ivorian side.

It is now expected Fofana is going to be an Ivorian mainstay with the likelihood the African champions are going to make it to the World Cup finals in two years’ time.