Youssouf Fofana: France’s anchoring midfield metronome who is the pride of Monaco and used to deliver pizzas
Once overshadowed by Aurélien Tchouaméni, the midfielder is now the pride and vice-captain for his club and a dependable player for country.
This article is the latest piece of xG Files’ ‘EuroFiles’ series for the upcoming European Championship, profiling 24 players from the qualified nations with expert opinions from journalists, writers, editors, and media guides from each respective nation, which you can find here.
In an alternative life, Youssouf Fofana could still be delivering pizzas, with his hopes in professional football gradually fading.
Parisian-born Fofana held aspirations, like many young players, of making it as a footballer, even if he had to take an unusual path.
“Growing up, Fofana wasn't necessarily rated at all,” said Luke Entwistle, editor-in-chief for Get French Football.
Fofana would spend time in the renowned French academy centre Clairefontaine before leaving at 15 without a club to his name.
Clairefontaine, a training hub in the Parisian suburbs that specialises in the elite training of young players living and playing within the Île-de-France region—a notable citation to the meteoric rises of the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Thierry Henry’s career—but as many left to kick on their burgeoning careers—it would be the three years without a club that made Fofana.
“The aforementioned ‘pizza boy’ narrative is certainly the most important storyline of his [Fofana] relatively young career and says as much about Fofana as it does about the French academy system,” said Entwistle.
“It attests to his mentality and determination but also shows that there is more than one route to the top.”
Fofana’s three years out of the game until the age of 18 allowed him to harness a mental makeup that constant expectations within the confines of a football club can wither and shatter. His physical talents, to many, were suited for the senior game, and with an increase in his mental shape, Strasbourg would offer Fofana the chance to show it.
First in the youth side, before making the seamless jump into the first team play within the space of three years—playing a part in the Coupe de la Ligue (French League Cup) winning team in 2018/19, attracting expected interest in the process.
Then, in January 2020, four days after a 3-1 loss to Monaco, Fofana signed for the Monegasque club in a €15 million deal—alongside Aurélien Tchouaméni in the same window.
“Unlike Tchouaméni, of whom big thighs were always expected from a young age, Fofana was a later bloomer,” Entwistle said.
As Entwistle mentioned, Tchouaméni had built up a lauded portfolio of promise at Bordeaux. By signing for one of France’s well-known clubs, the teen’s odd moment of flash and an aura-filled game were platformed, despite his natural destructive profile, which has seen him rise to the elite heights of Real Madrid and become a vital French international.
Fofana, on the contrary, arrived with the element of something to prove. An “unflashy midfield metronome with not many thrills but not many spills either,” as Entwistle cites in conversations. Tchouaméni would eclipse Fofana, but as the former left for Madrid, Fofana’s increasing reliability would see him named club vice-captain and the lynchpin that Monaco’s Champions League-qualified campaign this season was built on.
At the base of Monaco’s midfield, with and without Tchouaméni, Fofana has continued to impress, eventually leading to international recognition from Didier Deschamps.
The presence of Monaco players among the national team has tended to be up-and-down. There have been some noteworthy inclusions whilst at the club, including some members of the breathtaking 16/17 squad as well as the likes of Patrice Evra and Henry.
But most would cement their French international status down the line in their next moves. Wissam Ben Yedder has been a prominent fixture in recent years, but his appearances have been limited to zilch, given Olivier Giroud’s value to the squad and the constant pipeline of young French forwards.
Perhaps it's the seclusive nature that surrounds the Principality club from the outside. So, Fofana’s growing status as a Deschamps’ regular in his peak years is a welcome and proud sight.
Since his debut in September 2022, Fofana has been a trusted figure in numerous camps, edging a place in France’s World Cup squad—coming on in the final—and has been in every camp since.
“His [Deschamps] evaluations of players are taken as gospel; he [Fofana] has Deschamps' trust, so others trust him too,” reiterated Entwistle.
Fofana’s role in qualifying was largely restricted to cameos off the bench, with only one start and an early substitution coming in Les Bleus' final two games as qualification was all but assured. Yet he still managed to contribute, scoring in both games and grabbing an assist in that eye-opening 14-0 win over Gibraltar.
The Gibraltar game saw France line up with a midfield of Adrien Rabiot, Warren Zaïre-Emery, and Antoine Griezmann, with Fofana coming on in the 20th minute for an injured Zaïre-Emery. With no Eduardo Camavinga and Tchouaméni, it was a clear admission of where Fofana stands amongst the options—as a deputy role player.
His journey to becoming an international regular is a testament to himself. He wasn't projected to be a star, nor is he. Even in a Monaco side where he consistently stands out, it's for the betterment of those around: a manager’s dream, you may say. It is a long way from the days of former coach Niko Kovač being frustrated by an apparent laissez-faire approach to football and his role at the club.
According to Fbref.com, Fofana averages 2.77 carries into the final third per ninety (96th percentile), 7.68 ball recoveries (96th), and ranks in the 92nd percentile for progressive passes per game. A do-it-all role for a Champions League club has naturally re-encouraged annual interest from other clubs.
The chance to leave has been on the table for the last couple of windows but has yet to be taken.
Talking on the France 2 channel in April this year, he described a return to Paris in the form of Paris Saint-Germain as a “dream.”
On media duties ahead of the European Championships: “I have spoken about it with the hierarchy; it isn’t a secret,” Fofana told a press conference.
“We had exchanges, and they agreed to accompany me in this new stage.
With his contract running out in June 2025, like many before him, a departure with a commendable fee would be expected.
The journey from ‘pizza boy’ to the higher echelons of the game is certainly not the quintessential move for a French internal, but it is one to be proud of for Fofana and Monaco.