Malick Fofana returns to competition on March 19 after spraining his ankle in October, the OL announced this Monday.
Malick Fofana back on the operating table. This Monday, OL reported that the Belgian international “underwent a benign surgical procedure” on his right ankle “to remove the surgical material put in place during his operation last October.” On October 26, the winger suffered a serious sprain against Strasbourg. An injury that kept him away from the field for more than four months.
The Belgian winger experienced pain in the same injured ankle in November. At that time, the severe sprain diagnosed had been treated with surgery, whereas this type of injury is usually treated with a cast. Medical advancements now call for an operation to repair the interosseous ligaments known as syndesmosis. This surgical procedure was performed on Malick Fofana in October but required another trip to the operating room today.
Forfeit against Angers, at least
Following this new operation, the Lyon club did not specify Fofana’s expected recovery time, as he had just returned to the team. But the Belgian is at least ruled out for the match against Angers this Sunday at 3 pm. In the final stretch, OL hoped to have their striker back, just like other players who have been absent for long periods such as Afonso Moreira, Pavel Sulc, or Ruben Kluivert. The 20-year-old, with 55 L1 matches in his young career, had resumed group training in early March before being included in the squad for the Europa League round of 16 against Celta de Vigo. He played for eight minutes against the Spanish team and then for five minutes against Monaco in Ligue 1, the last match before the international break.
After a series of 13 consecutive wins, Lyon has not won in eight matches across all competitions. Eliminated from the Coupe de France and the Europa League, Paulo Fonseca’s players have slipped to 4th place in Ligue 1 and have been seeking a victory since February 15 (2-0 against Nice). A rebound is expected on Angers’ field this Sunday at 3 pm to try to break this negative trend.
