Youssouf Fofana is not the only player to have graduated from the concrete pitches of the Île-de-France to the France team, but few have followed such an unconventional path. The Monaco midfielder is the embodiment of the idea that maturity is not measured in years but in experience. When he joined Strasbourg at 18, he had already endured more setbacks than many players suffer in their entire careers.
“We are one of the countries that has the most access to pitches and it’s the first sport we can play together freely,” says Fofana as he attempts to explain why France develops so many…
