Sevilla coach describes Milan loanee Fofana as a ‘gift’ that ‘fell from the sky’

Sevilla head coach Luis Garcia Plaza is full of praise for summer signing Youssouf Fofana, revealing how the move materialised.

It was a strange summer for Fofana, who probably hoped to be given a chance to impress the new head coach Ruben Amorim but was instead cast aside in the ‘bomb squad’, as the Portuguese coach saw no place for him in his plans.

Fofana seemed to be heading for Lyon on deadline day, with the ‘here we go’ even arriving from Fabrizio Romano. Yet, everything collapsed right at the end for financial reasons as Lyon failed to offload a player. Somehow, the midfielder ended up at Sevilla before the gong sounded.

‘Fell from the sky’

The Frenchman has done well so far in Spain, even scoring a goal. His new coach Luis Garcia Plaza was interviewed by Cadena Cope and, among other topics, he commented on the arrival of Fofana from Milan on the final day of the transfer window.

“It was an unexpected deal for us, and it allowed us to make a leap in quality. We never expected to land this kind of player. It was 7:00pm, I was at the club and Fofana was on his way to Olympique Lyonnais, if I remember correctly,” he said (via MilanNews).

“There was a registration issue or something like that that prevented them from signing him, so they offered him to us. They offered him to several teams, and we offered them everything we had left of the salary cap or spending margin.

“When the opportunity arose, we didn’t think twice, because it was an impossible objective for us. His salary is mostly paid by AC Milan and it fell from the sky. It’s true that, of all the signings, he’s the only one who arrived above what we can afford. He’s a player who came to us like a gift.”