Malick Fofana
LW
Belgium21 years
Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
LW
Left wingMain
3,348 min · 63 apps · 34 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Sunderland · independent of the season filter
Rotation
Involvement50%
Performance38%
Through the match on 5 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Malick Fofana is a Belgian attacker who has done much of his work from the left wing. He can stay wide to face a defender, then change direction to open a crossing lane or drive towards goal. A defender who follows him towards the touchline can leave space for a teammate inside.
Fofana developed in Gent's academy after joining as a child. He made his first-team debut in the Belgian Super Cup in July 2022, then became a more regular senior option in the autumn of 2023. In that breakthrough, he began to turn his one-on-one ability into goals and final passes.
He moved from Gent to Lyon in January 2024. The step put him in Ligue 1 and European competition, where his pace and ball carrying could change a match from the wing. Lyon later identified 2024/25 as his emergence at that level.
In March 2025, Fofana scored twice late in Lyon's 3–1 Europa League win away to FCSB. The two finishes gave Lyon a stronger position for the return leg.
UEFA's analysis of Lyon's April 2025 quarter-final at Manchester United offers a sharper picture of his method. After coming on, Fofana gave Lyon width on the left, took defenders on and helped create the crossing situation for a goal. United began to send a second defender towards him. The space that opened elsewhere is part of the value of his wing play, even when he is not the scorer.
Belgium first used him at senior level against Italy in October 2024, after his youth international appearances. In September 2025 he started a World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein and scored late in a 6–0 win.
Lyon announced Fofana's move to Sunderland in September 2026. The move carried his Gent-to-Lyon development into a third domestic league, but his established footballing thread is simpler than the change of shirts: receiving wide, committing a defender and making the next action count, whether that is a shot, a cross or space created for somebody else.
Latest stats & form
Malick Fofana currently plays for Sunderland as a left winger. He has represented Belgium internationally.
Statistics cover recorded official matches.