David Datro Fofana (born 22 December 2002) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Chelsea.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Datro Fofana[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 22 December 2002[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Ouragahio, Ivory Coast | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Chelsea | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2018–2019 | Abidjan City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2021 | Abidjan City | ||
| 2019–2020 | → AFAD (loan) | ||
| 2021–2022 | Molde | 42 | (15) |
| 2023– | Chelsea | 3 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → Union Berlin (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2024 | → Burnley (loan) | 15 | (4) |
| 2024–2025 | → Göztepe (loan) | 9 | (2) |
| 2025–2026 | → Fatih Karagümrük (loan) | 13 | (6) |
| 2026 | → Strasbourg (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2023 | Ivory Coast U23 | 3 | (1) |
| 2019–2022 | Ivory Coast | 3 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10:10, 20 April 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21:10, 28 September 2025 (UTC) | |||
Club career
editEarly career
editFofana began his career in the Ivory Coast with Abidjan City, before joining AFAD on loan in 2019.[3] He was heavily scouted by French, Belgian and Norwegian clubs.[4] On 2 February 2021, Fofana signed a professional contract with Norwegian club Molde on a free transfer, signing for four years.[5] He debuted with Molde in a 3–3 UEFA Europa League tie with Hoffenheim on 18 February 2021, scoring his side's third goal in the 74th minute.[6]
Chelsea
editOn 28 December 2022, it was announced that Fofana would join English Premier League side Chelsea on 1 January 2023.[7] On 8 January 2023, Fofana came off the bench to make his Chelsea debut in a 4–0 loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup.[8]
Loan to Union Berlin
editOn 11 July 2023, Chelsea announced that Fofana would join Bundesliga side Union Berlin on a season-long loan.[9] He was recalled by Chelsea on 11 January 2024.[10]
Loan to Burnley
editTwo days after returning to Chelsea, Fofana was loaned to fellow Premier League club Burnley until the end of the season.[11][12] On 3 February 2024, he scored his first goals for Burnley by netting a brace in a 2–2 draw against Fulham.[13] On 21 May 2024, Burnley confirmed the player was returning to Chelsea.[14]
Loan to Göztepe
editLoan to Fatih Karagümrük
editOn 13 September 2025, Fofana was loaned to another newly-promoted Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük until the end of the 2025–26 season.[18]
Loan to Strasbourg
editOn 2 February 2026, Fofana signed for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg on loan for the remainder of the season.[19]
International career
editFofana made his international debut with the Ivory Coast national team in a 2–0 CHAN 2020 loss to Niger on 22 September 2019.[20] 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.[21]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 22 April 2026[1]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Molde | 2021 | Eliteserien | 18 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 5[b] | 1 | 26 | 2 | |
| 2022 | Eliteserien | 24 | 15 | 5 | 3 | — | 10[c] | 4 | 39 | 22 | ||
| Total | 42 | 15 | 8 | 4 | — | 15 | 5 | 65 | 24 | |||
| Chelsea | 2022–23 | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Union Berlin (loan) | 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 1 | 17 | 2 | |
| Burnley (loan) | 2023–24 | Premier League | 15 | 4 | — | — | — | 15 | 4 | |||
| Göztepe (loan) | 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | ||
| Fatih Karagümrük (loan) | 2025–26 | Süper Lig | 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 15 | 8 | ||
| Strasbourg (loan) | 2025–26 | Ligue 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 1[e] | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Career total | 99 | 28 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 6 | 134 | 40 | ||
- ↑ Includes Norwegian Cup, FA Cup, DFB-Pokal, Turkish Cup, Coupe de France
- ↑ Three appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ↑ Appearance in UEFA Conference League
International
edit- As of match played 19 November 2022[22]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivory Coast | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | |
Honours
editMolde
Individual
- Eliteserien Young Player of the Month: July 2022[23]
- Turkish Football Federation Fair Play Behavior Award of the Month October 2025[24]
References
edit- 1 2 3 David Datro Fofana at Soccerway
- ↑ "David Datro Fofana: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ↑ Sang, Kiplagat (22 December 2022). "Datro Fofana: Six quick facts about Chelsea's Ivory Coast wonderkid". goal.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
- ↑ Ould-Saada, Arilas Berg (11 February 2021). "Fransk klubb bød 10 mill. for afrikansk stjerneskudd - Molde fikk ham «gratis»". VG (in Norwegian).
- ↑ "David Fofana er nå klar for Molde FK". Molde. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ↑ "Molde vs. Hoffenheim - 18 February 2021". Soccerway.
- ↑ "David Datro Fofana agreement". Chelsea F.C. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ↑ Aarons, Ed (13 January 2023). "David Datro Fofana: Chelsea player's first club claim Molde 'stole' him". The Guardian.
- ↑ "David Fofana leaves Chelsea on loan". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ↑ "David Fofana recalled from Union Berlin loan". www.chelseafc.com. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ↑ "Fofana joins Burnley on loan". Chelsea FC. 13 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ↑ "Fofana checks in at Turf Moor". Burnley FC. 13 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ↑ "Burnley 2–2 Fulham". BBC Sport. 3 February 2024.
- ↑ "CLUB CONFIRM RETAINED LIST | BurnleyFC". www.burnleyfootballclub.com. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ↑ "David Fofana completes loan move". 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ "David Datro Fofana Göztepe'mizde" (in Turkish). Göztepe. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
- ↑ "David Fofana returns to Chelsea". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
- ↑ "David Datro Fofana completes loan switch to Turkey". www.chelseafc.com. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
- ↑ "David Fofana completes loan move". Chelsea FC. 2 February 2026. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
- ↑ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "CHAN 2020 : le Niger barre la route à la Côte d'Ivoire". CAFOnline.com.
- ↑ "@DatroDavid". Twitter. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ↑ "David Datro Fofana". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
- ↑ "Er det en heldig vinner?". Facebook (in Norwegian). Eliteserien. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
- ↑ "TFF Fair Play ödülü Fofana'nın oldu!". 6 December 2025.
External links
edit- Profile at the Chelsea F.C. website
- David Datro Fofana at Soccerway
- Molde FK profile[permanent dead link]
- David Datro Fofana at National-Football-Teams.com
- David Datro Fofana – UEFA competition record (archive)
