Chelsea loanee apologises after meltdown and tears in Champions League clash

Chelsea loanee David Datro Fofana has issued an apology after he clashed with his Union Berlin manager in the side’s Champions League defeat on Tuesday.

Fofana – who joined Chelsea in a £10m move from Molde in January – moved to Germany on a season-long loan in the summer, but has struggled to find his goalscoring touch.

The 20-year-old is yet to register a goal, or an assist, in 567 minutes of action for the Bundesliga side, and his frustration boiled over on Tuesday as Union Berlin were beaten 1-0 by Napoli.

Fofana was withdrawn in the 70th minute and snubbed manager Urs Fischer’s offer of a handshake, and refused to make eye contact.

The Swiss boss was visibly irritated by the reaction of his player, who then sat and raged on the bench before appearing to break down in tears.

A number of Fofana’s teammates attempted to calm him down and sporting director Oliver Ruhnert even came over to speak to him.

Fofana has now taken to social media to apologise to everyone for his reaction to being substituted, and insists he just desperate to help his team to succeed.

‘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.’

Union Berlin boss 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.’

Fofana thought he had notched his first assists in the game after an excellent run down the right, but the move was pulled back for offside. The wait for his first goal involvement goes on.

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