Newcastle United Opinion: Seko Fofana could be a good replacement for Hayden and Diame
According to Calciomercato, Newcastle United have been credited with an interest in Ivorian international midfielder Seko Fofana, as talks of a takeover by Dubai’s Bin Zayed Group continue to linger at Tyneside ahead of the upcoming season.
The 24-year-old, who currently plies his trade with Udinese in the Serie A, made a total of 31 appearances in the Italian top-flight this past season, contributing with 2 goals and 4 assists to help his club to a 12th-place finish in the league.
However, if Newcastle are really serious about getting their hands on the central midfielder, they would need to fend off interest from continental heavyweights AC Milan and Sevilla. (h/t Calciomercato)
The same source claims that Fofana has a contract with Udinese until the summer of 2022 but he is expected to head for the exit door to join a bigger club this summer.
Born in Paris, France, to parents of Ivorian heritage, Seko Fofana played for local club Paris FC and Lorient at the youth level before being snapped up by Man City as a promising youngster.
However, the midfielder failed to make the cut into the first-team at the Etihad and joined Udinese back in 2016 following successful loan stints at Fulham in the Championship and Bastia in Ligue 1.
Fofana’s time at Udinese has been a fruitful one and he has taken significant strides towards fulfilling his talent and potential. The 24-year-old has made a total of 84 appearances for the Italian club in all competitions till date, scoring 10 goals and assisting a further 5 in the process.
Newcastle’s interest in Seko Fofana should not be much of a surprise to the fans at Tyneside given that the Magpies are apparently set for a overhaul of their central midfield options this summer. Isaac Hayden is surely set to head for the exit door due to family reasons, while Mo Diame and Jonjo Shelvey are also expected to follow him.
The potential departures of Shelvey, Hayden and Diame would deal a huge blow to the depth in Newcastle’s options in the middle of the park.
The Magpies would still have the services of youngster Sean Longstaff and veteran Ki-Sung Yueng but two central midfielders can hardly be considered good enough for a full season and they could find themselves in dire stress should either of them be sidelined with an injury.
To put things into perspective, it is a no-brainer that Newcastle need to bring in at least one central midfielder this summer, if not two, and the acquisition of Seko Fofana could possibly solve a lot of problems for the Magpies.
Fofano is not a stranger to English football by any means, having spent time at Man City and Fulham earlier in his career, although he never went on to play in the Premier League.
However, with a wealth of Serie A and Ligue 1 experience under his belt, one would expect the 1-cap Ivorian international to replicate his success in the Premier League. Essentially a central midfielder by trade, Fofana is a tough-tacking, hardworking and energetic presence in the middle of the park who is capable of playing in both box-to-box and holding roles.
Blessed with a good range of passing, Fofano combines his tenacity and work-rate with his eye for through balls and dribbling skills to make an impact in the middle of the park.
Not only does he hold things together in the midfield, but he is also more than capable of creating his own space and riding off challenges, meaning that he is adept at shouldering both attacking and defensive responsibilities effectively.
Newcastle have time until the end of this month to sort out the future of manager Rafael Benitez amidst talks of a potential takeover, which would then provide the club with that much-needed financial muscle to rub shoulders with the big guns in the Premier League.
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However, leaving those speculations aside and taking the current circumstances into consideration, Seko Fofana perfectly fits the profile of players that Newcastle like to target in the transfer market and there is no reason why they shouldn’t go ahead with this move.
