Chelsea striker joins Bundesliga club to play Champions League football

Chelsea striker David Datro Fofana has joined Union Berlin on loan for the duration of the 2023/24 season, a move that promises to offer the Ivory Coast international more game time.

It will additionally see Fofana get the opportunity to play in the Champions League as a result of Union taking the Bundesliga by storm again last season and improving on their fifth place finish from 2021/22 to place fourth behind RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

Were Fofana to have stayed at Stamford Bridge this coming season, he wouldn’t have been playing European football of any kind after the Blues recorded their lowest Premier League finish since 1994.

Having impressed for Molde in Norway, Fofana was one of six additions to the Chelsea squad during an extraordinarily busy January transfer window. Only 20, he made just three Premier League appearances despite the team’s struggles, but now faces further competition for places from new forward arrivals Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson.

“Union have developed extremely strongly in the last few years and it excites me a lot to be a part of this in the coming season. The club has made a long and hard effort to find me and now I want to repay that with good performances,” Fofana said of his move to Germany.

Football managing director Oliver Ruhnert commented: “David’s speed and his flexible offensive qualities are highly interesting for us. We want another goal-scoring player who will give our attacking game additional impetus.”

Fofana scored 22 goals for Molde across all competitions during the 2022 Norwegian season, although he is yet to find the net for either Chelsea or Ivory Coast.