IF ANYONE ever needed persuading that some footballers do not want to display their skills in Scotland, then I suggest they look again at the David Datro Fofana farce.
The striker chose to snub the opportunity to join Celtic on loan from Chelsea with Charlton Athletic his preferred destination.
If that is the extent of the Ivory Coast-born Fofana’s ambition then it’s fortunate we found out at this early stage.
It’s utterly preposterous to believe the player actually brought football into the equation when he made his bonkers decision.
Celtic or Charlton? Even those cursed with a single digit IQ might get that one spot on.
NO GO…David Datro Fofana is stuck in the shadows.
While Brendan Rodgers’ side were celebrating their fourth successive title last season, their thirteenth flag in 14 years and their 55th crown in the club’s illustrious history, the London club were finishing fourth in the English third-tier an avalanche of points – TWENTY-SIX to be precise – behind winners Birmingham City.
Remarkably, they managed to sneak into the Championship, finishing a point ahead of Wycombe Wanderers.
It may be worth flagging up The Valley, their home ground, has a 27,111 capacity, their average home league attendance in a promotion-achieving campaign was 15,255 and they played in front of 1,336 against Leyton Orient in December last year.
Doesn’t conjure up images of a cauldron of feverish excitement on match day, does it?
They have been successful in only one of their four games since their elevation, losing two and drawing one.
So, of course, it’s a no-brainer for Fofana to knock back Celtic and throw his lot in at The Addicks, the team’s quaint nickname, for an entire season, basically operating in football’s shadows and making up the numbers.
I’M NUMBER ONE…Nicolas Kuhn celebrates one of his Celtic goals that earned him a £17.2 million transfer to Serie A side Como in the summer.
Okay, we have to accept the Scottish champions have not covered themselves in glory in this transfer window. I have the notion that observation may be replayed in the days, weeks and months to come.
Some individuals will have to buckle up with turbulence on its way.
In many eyes, the powerbrokers have disappointed the fans with a lack of perception in the past two windows. Kyogo Furuhashi (12), Nicolas Kuhn (21) and Adam Idah (20) contributed 53 goals to the team’s cause last season.
All three have been removed from the scene with circa £34.2million swelling the Celtic coffers.
The paucity of quality incoming transfers – especially proven goalscorers – means there is no place to hide and, of course, no slack will be cut for anyone.
But, surely, the Fofana fiasco emphasises the difficulty of enticing targets to Scottish football.
They may well fancy the idea of strutting their stuff at a 60,000-capacity Celtic Park, but they won’t be so keen on the plastic of Kilmarnock and Livingston and they may not to be overly-thrilled with their introduction to Falkirk or St Mirren, with no disrespect intended to any of those four teams.
Putting the tin lid on Fofana’s absurd decision, there is an equally comical ending to this little piece of vaudeville; the paperwork was not processed in time for the transfer to be rubber-stamped by the English Football League.
So Fofana, a player who is most certainly not in Enzo Maresca’s plans, has not been allocated a number and is not in the Stamford Bridge’s 28-man squad, remains at Chelsea.
He will now play out at least the next four months in the obscurity of football’s version of the twilight zone.
There are many who may well believe that is the perfect setting for someone with such trifling aspirations.
ALEX GORDON
