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Malick Fofana

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Malick Fofana
Fofana with Lyon in 2025
Personal information
Full name Malick Martin Fofana
Date of birth (2005-03-31) 31 March 2005 (age 21)
Place of birth Aalst, Belgium
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position Winger
Team information
Current team
 Sunderland
Number 39
Youth career
2009–2014 Eendracht Aalst
2014–2022 Gent
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2023 Jong Gent 13 (4)
2022–2024 Gent 41 (2)
2024–2026 Lyon 60 (11)
2026– Sunderland 1 (0)
International career‡
2020 Belgium U15 3 (0)
2021–2022 Belgium U17 10 (5)
2022–2023 Belgium U18 6 (2)
2022 Belgium U20 1 (0)
2023– Belgium U21 9 (0)
2024– Belgium 5 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:01, 5 September 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:43, 13 October 2025 (UTC)

Malick Martin Fofana (born 31 March 2005) is a French-Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Sunderland and the Belgium national team.

Club career

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Gent

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Fofana started playing football at Eendracht Aalst before joining Gent's youth academy at the age of nine. He signed his first professional contract there in January 2022.[1][2][3]

After he already participated in the pre-season friendlies,[4] Fofana made his professional debut for Gent on the 30 July 2022, replacing Hugo Cuypers during a 1–1 home Division A draw against Sint-Truiden.[5] Only one week later, he was awarded his first start against Westerlo, leading his team to a 2–1 home victory.[6]

Lyon

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On 10 January 2024, Fofana joined Ligue 1 side Lyon for a fee of €17 million, plus €5 million in add-ons, and a 20% sell-on clause on a future sale in favor of Gent; he signed a contract until June 2028 with the French club.[7][8][9] In the process, he became the third Belgian player in the history of Lyon, following Éric Deflandre and Jason Denayer.[9]

Sunderland

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On 1 September 2026, Fofana signed a long-term contract with Premier League side Sunderland.[10] The transfer fee was reportedly £25.7m.[11]

International career

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Fofana is a youth international for Belgium, having first established himself as a regular goalscorer with the under-17 national team,[1][2] with whom he played the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[12]

In October 2024, Fofana received his first call-up to the senior Belgium national team for their 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and France.[13] He debuted against the former opponent on 14 October.[14]

Personal life

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Born in Belgium, Fofana is of Guinean, French and Filipino descent. Fofana holds Guinean and French nationalities from his parents.[9][15]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 8 September 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Jong Gent 2022–23 Belgian Division 1 134————134
Gent 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 22031—7[c]01[d]0331
2023–24 Belgian Pro League 19220—10[c]2—314
Total 41251—17210645
Lyon 2023–24 Ligue 1 17341———214
2024–25 Ligue 1 29520—10[e]6—4111
2025–26 Ligue 1 12200—4[e]0—162
2026–27 Ligue 1 21——4[f]1—62
Total 601161—187—8319
Sunderland 2026–27 Premier League 10001000—20
Career total 11517112103591016328
  1. ↑ Includes Belgian Cup, Coupe de France
  2. ↑ Includes EFL Cup
  3. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ↑ Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
  5. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

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As of match played 13 October 2025[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Belgium 202410
202541
Total51
Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fofana goal.[16]
List of international goals scored by Malick Fofana
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
14 September 2025Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein2 Liechtenstein6–06–02026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

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Lyon

References

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  1. 1 2 "Officieel: AA Gent deal met Fofana". Voetbalbelgie.be (in Dutch). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 Fiammetti, Alexandre (20 January 2022). "La Gantoise offre un premier contrat professionnel à un énorme talent". Walfoot.be (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "Gantoise : la pépite guinéenne Malick Fofana s'offre son premier contrat pro". Foot224 (in French). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  4. ↑ Vandenbussche, Bart (18 June 2022). "AA Gent opent voorbereiding met ruime zege, Sven Kums scoort pareltje". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  5. ↑ Woos, Loïc (30 July 2022). "Saint-Trond arrache un point sur la pelouse de La Gantoise". Walfoot.be (in French). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Floren, Steve (7 August 2022). "Malick voor het eerst in de basis bij Gent: "Ik krijg heel veel berichtjes"". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "L'international Espoirs belge Malick Fofana s'engage avec l'OL jusqu'en 2028" (in French). Olympique Lyonnais. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Transferts : Malick Fofana s'engage avec l'OL (officiel)". L'Équipe (in French). Éditions Philippe Amaury. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Lizin, Cédric (10 January 2024). "Le Diablotin Malick Fofana quitte La Gantoise et file à Lyon contre 22 millions d'euros". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  10. ↑ "Sunderland AFC sign Malick Fofana". Sunderland A.F.C. 2 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Mokbel, Sami; Kinsella, Nizaar (1 September 2026). "Sunderland to beat Palace to Lyon's £30m winger Fofana". BBC Sport.
  12. ↑ Defawe, Maxence (12 May 2022). "Fofana, Mawete, Monticelli : 3 pépites belges à suivre durant l'Euro U17" (in French). RTBF. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Geen De Bruyne en Lukaku bij Rode Duivels, wel selectie voor Fofana, Ngonge, Smets en Vandevoordt". Sporza (in Dutch). 4 October 2024.
  14. ↑ Huët, Julien (14 October 2024). "Belgique-France : le Lyonnais Malick Fofana, petit Diable, grand talent". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  15. ↑ Silas, Don (4 September 2024). "'My mother is from France' - Fofana on why he snubbed France, Guinea". Daily Post. Lagos, Nigeria. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  16. 1 2 Malick Fofana at National-Football-Teams.com
  17. ↑ "PSG beat Lyon 2–1 to win French Cup final in Mbappe's farewell appearance". Reuters. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
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