{"id":22450,"date":"2025-10-28T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22450"},"modified":"2025-10-27T18:35:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T17:35:28","slug":"lyon-star-malick-fofana-out-for-months-with-ankle-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/28\/lyon-star-malick-fofana-out-for-months-with-ankle-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyon Star Malick Fofana Out for Months With Ankle Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LYON, France (FN) \u2014 Olympique Lyonnais winger Malick Fofana will be sidelined for several months following a serious ankle injury sustained during Sunday\u2019s Ligue 1 match against Strasbourg, the club confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fofana, 20, was stretchered off in the second half after his right ankle twisted under a challenge from Strasbourg defender Ismael Doukoure. The tackle, which drew a red card after a video assistant referee review, left Fofana in visible pain and prompted immediate concern from teammates and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyon described the injury as a \u201cserious sprain of the right ankle\u201d and said surgery is \u201cvery probable,\u201d ruling the Belgian international out until well into the new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goalkeeper Anthony Lopes expressed his concern after the match, saying, \u201cIt was heartbreaking to see Malick in that state. He\u2019s a fighter, and we\u2019ll be behind him every step of the way.\u201d Lopes also praised Fofana\u2019s impact on the team this season, calling him \u201ca spark in our attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Midfielder Maxence Caqueret added, \u201cMalick\u2019s absence will be felt deeply. He\u2019s not just a talented player, but a great teammate. We\u2019ll do everything we can to keep the momentum going for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Pierre Sage acknowledged the emotional toll of the injury, stating, \u201cWe lost a key player today, but the team showed character. Afonso [Moreira] stepped up brilliantly, and we\u2019ll continue to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the setback, Lyon secured a 2-1 victory thanks to a late goal from Fofana\u2019s replacement, Afonso Moreira. The win keeps Lyon fourth in Ligue 1 with 18 points, just two behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain after nine matches. The club also boasts a perfect record in the Europa League group stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fofana\u2019s injury comes at a challenging time for Lyon, who sold forwards Rayan Cherki and Georges Mikautadze during the summer and lost captain Alexandre Lacazette after his contract expired. Financial difficulties nearly led to relegation, a decision overturned on appear<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fofana has scored two goals in 12 appearances this season and netted 11 times in 41 matches last campaign. He has featured in Belgium\u2019s last four World Cup qualifiers and was linked with moves to Everton and Bayern Munich before choosing to remain at Lyon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The club said it will provide updates on his recovery following further medical evaluation. In the meantime, Lyon\u2019s squad is rallying around their injured star, determined to honor his contributions with continued success on the pitch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LYON, France (FN) \u2014 Olympique Lyonnais winger Malick Fofana will be sidelined for several months following a serious ankle injury sustained during Sunday\u2019s Ligue 1 match against Strasbourg, the club confirmed. Fofana, 20, was stretchered off in the second half after his right ankle twisted under a challenge from Strasbourg defender Ismael Doukoure. The tackle, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/malick-Fofana.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22456,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22450\/revisions\/22456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}