Malick Fofana: Scouting Report by Mateusz Belza
Name: Malick Fofana
Age: 18 (2005-03-31)
Height: 1,69 cm
Main Position: Left midfielder
Other Position: Left wing-back
Club: KAA Gent
Nationality: Belgium, Guinea and the Philippines.
Preferred foot: Both
Market Value: £ 8.00m
Player comparisons: Yannick Carrasco
Key Strengths:
Ambidexterity
Dribbling ability 1v1
Crosses
Creativity
Mobility
Improvements:
Defensive positioning
Aerial Duels
Background:
Malick Fofana is a Belgian professional football player that plays for KAA Gent. He started his football career at Eendracht Aalst before he made his move to Gent for their under-9 team. When he turned 17 he signed his first professional contract with the club.
Career Summary:
After playing in the KAA Gent youth system, Fofana got the opportunity to participate in the preseason with the first team during the 2022/2023 season. He impressed and made his official debut for the first team on July 30, 2022, against Sint-Truiden. Just a week after his substitute appearance, he earned his first starting position in the starting eleven against Westerlo.
On a national level, Fofana has already represented Belgium’s youth national team from U15 to U21. He made his U21 debut in the national team when he was 18 years old and participated in the U17 European championship with the U17 Belgium National team.
Play style:
Fofana is a left midfielder who enjoys challenging his opponent in 1v1 situations in the final third and out wide on the left flank. He is very skillful with both feet, giving him a significant advantage in these 1v1 scenarios where he can go in either direction, making it difficult for opponents to defend against. This unpredictability allows Fofana to either dribble past the defender or draw fouls. Another excellent aspect of his playing style is his crosses, where he demonstrates good variation by delivering to both the far post, near post, or executing a cutback. Here as well, he makes it challenging for opponents when he uses both feet, creating difficulty for defenders in choosing which side to cover against him. As a left midfielder in the KAA Gent 3-4-1-2 formation, there is a considerable amount of defensive work required to cover spaces on the left flank. Fofana exhibits a strong work rate and contributes defensively, but at times, he may position himself slightly inaccurately, preventing him from catching up with opponents on the way back. However, despite being only 18 years old, I believe this aspect will improve with age, especially now that he is already playing in the top league.
Play style (Offensively):
One of Fofana´s outstanding abilities is his technical abilities and particularly his dribbling skills in 1v1 situations. He often positions himself wide near the touchline to receive the ball and then go on to take on his opponent (Usually the opposite fullback). He maintains his composure under pressure and is really skillful in tight spaces to pass his opponents with ease. Whether faced with tight defensive lines or quick transitions, he demonstrates a high level of composure and consistently makes the right choices to unlock opposing defenses. Fofana also demonstrates a remarkable trait in his key passes where he becomes a big threat in the final third where he sets up several goal scoring chances for his teammates. Usually he does this like a told earlier by his variations of crosses. Over the course of this season, Fofanas has maintained a high level of performance, consistently contributing to his team’s offensive output. His impact in crucial matches highlights his reliability as a key playmaker.
Here, Fofana scans to the right to ensure that no opponents are close to him before calling for the ball. He then makes the right decision to receive the ball with his right foot, setting it up nicely for a shot with his left foot after quickly turning upon receiving the ball.
Here, Fofana engages in a 1v1 situation against the defenders of Oud-Heverlee Leuven. He takes the ball with his right foot and cuts inside towards the pitch, drawing the defender with him, which subsequently leads to the next image.
Fofana executes a feinted cross with his right foot, transferring the ball to his left foot. This maneuver allows him to elude the defenders and deliver a perfect cross to the far post, which is headed into the goal by his teammate.
Here we have a typical Fofana scenario. After receiving the ball wide on the flank, he opts to gradually approach the defender, engaging him in a 1v1 situation. In this instance, Fofana executes step-over feints before cutting inside to the right and concluding with a right-footed shot.
Just before the situation in the image, Fofana received a long ball from the goalkeeper. He executed a fantastic first touch to turn quickly and then played it to his striker, breaking through the midfield lines of Club Brugge, which shows great football IQ.
Play style (Defensively):
Defensively, there is some work to be done for Fofana. He faces challenges in making decisions regarding whether to take a proactive approach or maintain a defensive position. Consequently, he occasionally finds himself in situations where he is far away from his opponents, leading him to frequently chase after them in an attempt to regain possession of the ball. A positive aspect is that he still makes the effort and demonstrates a good work rate to cover defensive responsibilities. However, as he matures, I believe that his defensive positioning will improve, reducing the need to constantly chase the ball and allowing him to conserve energy for offensive actions, where his biggest strengths lie.
Here, Fofana applies pressure as soon as the goalkeeper passes the ball to his center-back. Fofana guides the center-back outward towards the yellow circle, forcing the opponent to make a clearance that KAA Gent successfully wins.
In this situation, Fofana ends up too high up the pitch, creating significant open spaces behind him. In such a scenario, when opponents launch a counterattack, it becomes very challenging for Fofana to catch up.
Technical Abilities (0-10):
Attacking Ability: [9]
Dribbling 1v1: [9]
Shooting: [8]
Left Footed Passing: [8]
Right Footed Passing:[7]
Short Passing: [7]
Long Passing: [7]
Crossing: [8]
Running with the ball: [8]
Running without the ball: [6]
Ball Control: [7]
Heading: [4]
Weak foot: [8]
First Touch: [7]
Physical Abilities (0-10):
Acceleration: [8]
Speed: [6]
Mobility: [9]
Strength: [4]
Work Rate: [7]
Agility: [8]
Endurance: [7]
Tactical Abilities (0-10):
Positioning: [6]
Reading the Game: [7]
Vision: [7]
Decision Making: [8]
Awareness: [8]
Mentality & Character abilities (0-10):
Team Player: [7]
Effort to win the ball back: [6]
Leadership: [4]
Talkative: [7]
Competitive: [7]
Discipline: [7]
Concentration: [8]
Showing initiative: [8]
Potential:
Despite being just 18 years old, Fofana is already in his second professional season in the Belgian top league. The coach at KAA Gent appears to be growing increasingly confident in Fofana, given his consistent gametime in almost every match this season. He has become a key fixture, emerging as one of KAA Gent’s primary offensive assets. This serves as clear evidence that Fofana is progressing with each game. If he maintains his current level of consistency and form, it would not surprise me if a major European team expresses interest in signing him this summer.