Embarrassed Chelsea loanee apologises over complete Champions League meltdown
David Fofana is currently on loan at Union Berlin
Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana has apologised after an embarrassing clash with his Union Berlin manager Urs Fischer after being substituted in the side’s Champions League defeat to Napoli on Tuesday night.
The 20-year-old moved to the Bundesliga on a season-long loan over the summer but his spell with the German side has not gone entirely to plan so far.
Fofana has been given plenty of chances to make an impression at his new club, making 11 appearances in all competitions so far and racking up 567 minutes of action. However, he has yet to register a single goal or even an assist.
Those frustrations continued on Tuesday as Union Berlin were beaten 1-0 by Italian champions Napoli and things boiled over when he was withdrawn by Fischer in the 70th minute.
As he headed to the dugout, Fofana walked straight past Fischer without making eye contact and snubbed his offer of a handshake, with the Swiss coach visibly angered by that reaction.
When he took his place on the bench, Fofana was clearly raging and even appeared to break down in tears. That then led to a number of his team-mates coming over to calm him down, while Union Berlin sporting director Oliver Ruhnert even had to speak to him.
Fofana backs down over Union Berlin tantrum
But Fofana has now apologised to Fischer, his team-mates and supporters for his reaction to being subbed off and says he was just desperate to help the team try and get back into the match.
“Following my behaviour during my exit from the field, I wanted to apologise to the club, the coach, my team-mates and the supporters,” said the young striker on social media.
“This gesture was not intended and in no way does it represent my attitude, all this was generated as a result of frustration because I wanted to continue helping the team to obtain a positive result.
“We will continue to work and come back even stronger in the championship and in this great competition.”
Meanwhile, Fischer played down the incident afterwards, saying: “There will be a talk. But I find it strange that this is the first question I get after such a great game from us.”
The Chelsea loanee will be pushing for his first goal again when Union travel to Werder Bremen on Saturday.
