While Bayern Munich was trying to figure out who they were going to sign in place of Florian Wirtz after he went to Liverpool, Olympique Lyon midfielder Malick Fofana was one of several names linked with
a potential move to the reigning Bundesliga champions. Essentially, the Belgian 20-year-old was a contingency plan laying in wait to see what happened with Bayern and Luis Diaz, who was already considered to be a backup plan to Wirtz having chosen Liverpool over Bayern when he left Bayer Leverkusen. To Bayern’s credit, this was made clear to Fofana and his representatives, but it’s not exactly easy to accept the fact of being a backup to a backup plan.
During the summer transfer window, Fofana was also heavily linked with making a move to Everton, where former Bayern defender Adam Aznou wound up going. Everton’s initial bid of €36 million to Lyon for Fofana was rejected by the Ligue 1 club, as they wanted at least €40 million for him. Additionally, Everton faced roadblocks due to Fofana’s desire to want to play Champions League football, especially considering Lyon are in the Europa League this season and Everton aren’t in any European competition.
Per information from Belgian outlet De Morgen (via @iMiaSanMia), Fofana’s agent, Federico Pena, feels that the midfielder belongs at one of Europe’s top clubs. He truly feels that his client is good enough and is more than ready to make the jump to an elite club. “This is the season Fofana wants to show himself to the world, especially at the World Cup. If he succeeds, he can go from Lyon to a top 10 club. We strongly believe in him. Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Man City – those are the clubs where he belongs,” Pena explained.
For Lyon so far this season, he has tallied two goals and one assists from a total of nine appearances across all competitions as Lyon currently sit fourth in the Ligue 1 table and they’ve won their two opening matches in the Europa League against the likes of RB Salzburg and Utrecht. He’s not exactly lighting the world on fire, but from Bayern’s perspective, they’ll certainly want to monitor his situation and see how things wind up with their own wingers. They already have Diaz, Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, and Nicolas Jackson in the ranks and it is still unclear right now whether or not Gnabry will wind up getting a contract extension. For the club to go in for Fofana either this winter or summer, they would really have to consider if it would be worth somewhere around €40 million.
