The Zebrette have had their struggles so far in 2016-17 but in the early stages of the season, it seems that they have discovered another jewel in the rough in midfield.
For more than two decades Udinese have possessed the ability to scout for relatively unknown players and develop them into high-quality footballers before selling them for a large profit.
Fans of the Zebrette have witnessed the likes of Oliver Bierhoff, Thomas Helveg, Martin Jorgensen, David Pizarro, Gokhan Inler, Alexis Sanchez, and Samir Handanovic emerge from obscurity to become stars.
Those players were also part of Udinese sides that were capable of qualifying for European competitions and although the current team is trying to thwart off the threat of relegation instead, they do have a starlet capable of having a breakthrough campaign.
As usual the Friulani did not make any household signings in the summer but the arrivals of South American starlets Adalberto Penaranda and Rodrigo De Paul arguably had a bit more fanfare than the arrival of French youth international Seko Fofana.
The 21-year-old central midfielder arrived from Manchester City for around €3.5 million despite not playing a competitive match for the senior squad. Prior to his arrival in Udinese, he had played in the Citizens’ youth team and spent loan spells at Fulham and French club Bastia.
Fofana had started in the opening two rounds of this Serie A campaign but Giuseppe Iachini decided to leave him on the bench since. When Iachini was sacked as Udinese coach after seven rounds and replaced by Luigi Delneri, the youngster was reinstated into the Zebrette first 11 and his role had changed from being a defensive midfielder to more of a box-to-box type.
Since making his return in the 2-1 defeat against Juventus, the Frenchman has remained a starter in the Friulani squad and has also contributed on the scoresheet, finding the back of the net four times in the last seven matches.
His breakthrough performance was in the 3-1 victory against Palermo in Week 10, when he scored twice in the second half which both came on the counter-attack. After that, he scored the equaliser against Cagliari, in a game which Udinese ended up losing 2-1, and he was pivotal in the 3-1 win against surprise packets Atalanta, scoring the second goal and creating the third for Cyril Thereau.
Fofana’s goals have a similar style about them. He can gallop like gazelle towards the penalty area, show his technical prowess with well-placed shots from outside of the penalty area, or combine the two actions.
Currently, Miralem Pjanic from Juventus, Marek Hamsik from Napoli, and Franck Kessie from Atalanta have scored more goals than him from midfield, with the trio finding the back of the net for their respective teams on five occasions.
His performances of late have been so impressive that they have caught the attention of rival clubs such as surprise German title contenders RB Leipzig, who reportedly want to acquire the French starlet in January, as well as AC Milan.
Manchester City have placed their focus on winning trophies with star names so it is not easy for youngsters to break through at the English club but leaving them looks like a blessing in disguise for Fofana.
Now that he has the opportunities to play at Udinese he is thriving. The Friulani recruitment staff can be glad that they found themselves another young star coming of age.
