All good surprises come to an end. But, as far as the Racing Club de Lens is concerned, this outcome continues to be postponed. Promoted to Ligue 1 a year and a half ago, after a gloomy decade spent mainly in the antechamber of the elite, the northern club has foiled all predictions by remaining at the top of the table during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, letting slip a qualification for a European Cup only on the last day (seventh place final).
This season, the Sang et Or are continuing their momentum. At the time of challenging Olympique Lyonnais (OL) away, Saturday, October 30, Lens finds itself second to Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) after eleven days of the championship.
The trainer, Franck Haise, is the pilot of a perfectly oiled racing car whose engine is called Seko Fofana. Able to break lines with his ball-to-foot overlaps, the 26-year-old midfielder has just been voted best player in the championship in September.
“I was told I was crazy”
By signing in Artois in the summer of 2020, after four seasons in Udinese, Italy, the Ivorian international surprised his world. What was he going to do at a club that had just been promoted to Ligue 1, when Atalanta Bergamo offered him the opportunity to play in the Champions League?
“I thought about it for a long time, I imagined myself here and not elsewhere. I saw myself in the project ”, justified in The team the player from the 20e arrondissement of Paris, who also wanted to be closer to his family. “Even when I tried to explain my reasoning, I was told that I was crazy”, also told Seko Fofana to So Foot.
History has proven him right, both collectively and individually. Since the start of the season, the midfielder has been given the captain’s armband. “It gave him perhaps even more confidence and also responsibilities that he wanted to take”, remarks his trainer.
Going where you don’t expect it, for Seko Fofana, it’s almost a trademark. In January 2013, when he was shining in the youth categories of the France team, the 17-year-old boy chose to take the plunge by leaving FC Lorient to join Manchester City. Within the Sky Blues nursery, he notably played for one season under the orders of Patrick Vieira. Lacking prospects in one of the richest clubs in the world – at the time not as flamboyant as under the Pep Guardiola era, but already provided with stars – Seko Fofana must resolve to leave on loan to Fulham, in English second division (2014-2015), then at Sporting Club de Bastia, in Ligue 1 (2015-2016).
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