The story of Seko Fofana contract extension at RC Lens

The match was over. Racing Club de Lens had won 5-2 in front of their home fans at the Estadio Bollaert-Delelis. But no one had moved. No one among the 37,000 in the stands. Not an inch. They weren’t frozen to their spots for Florian Sotoca, who had scored a brace. Or for Wesley Said, Salis Abdul Samed or Lois Openda, who had also scored for Lens.
No, this had nothing to do with the match that had just finished or those who played in it. This was only and only about Seko Fofana.
RC Lens’ win over Lorient in their fifth game of the French Ligue 1 season on Wednesday night was followed the public contract extension signing of their captain Seko Fofana. The 27-year-old had been in demand among several big clubs across Europe, including the richest club in the land, Paris Saint Germain. A left-sided central midfielder adept at not just creating opportunities but also receiving them. Below are his percentile stats* over the last 365 days compared to midfielders across the men’s big five leagues in Europe (England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France).
Screengrab: Fofana’s scouting report via FBref.
His heatmap (used as an indicator of the scope and frequency of a player’s movement) over the 2021/22 season in Ligue 1 suggests a central midfielder who tracks back deep to recover the ball from his own territory as well as well upfront to make the most of ball possession.
Screengrab: Seko Fofana’s Ligue 1 2021/22 heatmap via SofaScore
A midfielder who has been compared the FBref, (a widely regarded football stats-based website) using their model of comparing player attributes, to the likes of Frenkie De Jong, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Luka Modric in his style. To put a cherry on top of the cake, Fofana has been a natural leader in the Lens dressing room.
A midfielder with that kind of skill set and at the peak of his playing career, who wouldn’t want to have him? However, the speculation of Fofana going elsewhere was finally put to rest on a night like no other.
The floodlights had been shut down. The Lens fans lit up the stands with their mobile flashlights. Three chairs and a table had been placed exactly at the centre spot with a spotlight illuminating them.
“Seko….Seko….Seko,” the songs had begun. Almost the vibe of a cool music concert.

And then, he emerged from the tunnel. Wearing a black jacket that clearly read on the back, ‘Not from Paris Madame’. Covering his eyes, with tears gushing down his cheeks. The sounds grew even louder now that they had seen him. His teammates greeted him at the touchline, dancing and singing around him, their captain. There was no covering the pure unadulterated emotions now. The 27-year-old cried his heart out as he walked towards the centre spot to join Arnoud Pouille and Florent Ghisolfi, the Managing and Sporting Director of RC Lens respectively. The duo greeted him with a hug to get things started.
Make no make, this had taken its time. Right until the night before transfer deadline day. The club and especially the fans had become anxious over the course of the transfer window. But the sweet words they wanted to hear for a long time had finally arrived.
With the three gents seated at the roundtable in the middle of Estadio Bollaert-Delelis in pin-drop silence, Ghisolfi asked Fofana on mic for the sake of mere formalities, “Seko, est-ce que tu veux rester à la maison? (Seko, do you want to stay at home?).”

“Bien Sur (Of course),” he replied. He didn’t get to utter another word. He didn’t have to. There was no silence any more. The songs grew louder. The lights seemed brighter. The pyrotechnics were on at the centre circle. Lens was the place to be.
There’s a split second in the two-minute-nine-second video shared RC Lens on their social media of the special night where one can watch the mo-eyed Fofana almost nodding his head in disbelief, almost as if he means to say, “What are these people? What have I done to mean so much to them?”
In the plethora of transfer window signings, a fact is lost. That the window is also about succeeding in keeping a club’s key players. Players who are wanted others willing to pay a price. As Fofana finally wore the ‘Captain Seko 2025’ club shirt, a club had succeeded in doing just that.
“J’espère qu’on va pouvoir rêver en fin de saison….et profiter un max (I hope that we will be able to dream at the end of the season….and make the most of it),” he said, with Lens placed second in the Ligue 1 table, only behind PSG on goal difference.

But the business of the beautiful game is anything but beautiful. Today’s glory barely means anything for tomorrow. Contract extensions have been cut short plenty of times, with clubs agreeing on a mutual price good enough for the player to switch allegiance. That’s the way it works, right? No one, perhaps not even Fofana knows yet where he’ll play in 2025. But for now, he is Lens’. They have proclaimed it on their website.
“Seko Fofana, Sang et or jusqu-en 2025” which translates to “Seko Fofana, blood and gold until 2025”.
 
*xG (Expected Goals) is the probability that a shot will result in a goal based on the characterics of that shot and the events leading up to it. 
*xA (Expected Asss) model measures the likelihood that a given pass will become a goal ass.