Arsenal Transfer Rumor: Malick Fofana
The transfer window is nearly closed and Arsenal could do with a left-side attacker.
Arsenal are considering buying left winger Malick Fofana from Lyon, reports David Ornstein. The 21-year old has scored 19 goals in 83 appearances for the French side after joining Ligue Un from Belgian side Gent in 2022 at 17-years-old. Because he’s still a young player (and he was younger last summer), Chelsea kicked the tires on a move for him, and Everton reportedly held talks, too. Arsenal were apparently interested last summer as well, which sounds vaguely familiar but not terribly so.
I’ll be honest, I’m not particularly familiar with Fofana’s game, in large part because he missed about half of last season recovering from ankle surgery and working through lingering pain.
The injury with lingering pain is a significant red flag. It’s the type of thing the Arsenal medical staff would have to make absolutely sure is squared away. With just over 24 hours to go in the transfer window, I don’t know whether that is feasible — as in I literally have no idea whether there is enough time remaining in the transfer window for the club doctors and physios to do whatever tests they’d need to do to reach the necessary level of comfort. I suppose the very possibility that the report has filtered through David Ornstein is enough to suggest that the club think it is possible.
You’d want to factor the injury history into the price, which is perhaps why The Athletic describes a move for the Belgian winger as a “market opportunity” for Arsenal. That Lyon missed out on the CL League Phase is likely part of the opportunity, too. Come on down, Malick Fofana, you’re the next contestant on Is The Price Right?
Said SCOUTED writer (and Arsenal supporter) Billy Carpenter of Fofana on BlueSky:
It’s a pretty gut/top-level observation from when I actually spent a night or two watching his games a year ago. Thought he’d have trouble imposing his game in the league and needed a year or two to work things out, and felt like one of those in need of a spell in the mid-table. Open-minded though.
SCOUTED had Fofana ranked #5 on their 50 young players to watch list at the start of last season. Notably, that was before the young winger got hurt.
Moving for Fofana strikes me as the type of move that many Arsenal supporters have been anxious to see from the club for a while: buying the player that Bournemouth / Brighton / Brentford / [insert well-run stepping stone club here] would buy before they get to ’em. Why pay £80M for a guy you could have bought a year or two ago for £40M? Pay the £40M, cut out the middle man, save money, and get the next big thing before he becomes the next big thing. Simple, right?
Not so fast, my friend! The developmental seasons spent at the Brightons of the world are important. Why? It’s right there on the tin. Development. Most of the players who go lesser league -> big(ger) league, smaller team -> big league, big team aren’t ready to make the full jump from the off. They need that season or two playing in an environment where making a mistake and learning from it isn’t going to cost their side critical points and get them stapled to the bench. Put simply, Brentford can drop many, many more points than Arsenal and still accomplish the club’s goals for the season.
The middle step is also important because as good as those clubs are at identifying talent, not every player pans out. The develop-and-sell clubs separate the wheat from the chaff and the bigger clubs pay the premium for that work being done for them.
If Arsenal are confident in their scouting and analysis of Fofana (or any other younger player, for that matter), there is the potential for significant value capture / gain in skipping a step in the typical progression. How much there is (and Arsenal’s willingness to buy) exists on a sliding scale tied to price. The club’s recent track record of buying attackers is mixed, at best, so I’m not sure “Arsenal want him, he must be good” necessarily holds.
With the window closing and Arsenal seemingly a left-sided attacker short, a decently good price for Malick Fofana might be particularly appealing. They’ve got Christos Tzolis, who has looked great, but still need some depth. Specifically, they could do with a pacey, true left-wing to fill take Gabriel Martinelli’s spot. Fofana ticks those boxes, is two-footed, and a capable passer.
From what I can glean, it seems as if he has the tools to take the next step and pop off. But I’d reiterate he hasn’t done it yet, and his ankle injury last season gives you pause. It would be a calculated risk, one that really only the club is in position to properly weigh up. Signing young attackers with lots of potential is fun, though!
The search for another attacker continues.
The Gunners close in on much-needed cover.
Be respectful in your interactions with contributors and fellow fans. Go here to read our community guidelines.
Reminder: Trolling of any sort, especially going to rival sites and trolling, is expressly against the rules. If you do it, you'll most likely be permanently banned.
• Go to the My Profile tab for your comment history and preferences
• C key scrolls forwards through comments / shift-C scrolls backwards
• Z key jumps to Next Unread / shift-A marks all comments on your screen as read
More tips here. If you’d like to report a bug, email us at support@sbnation.com. If you have a moderation issue, please email moderation@sbnation.com.
