Wesley Fofana could miss the rest of the season with the centre-back’s fourth long-term injury since joining Chelsea in August 2022, manager Enzo Maresca has said.
Frenchman Fofana, who joined the Blues from Leicester City for £70m plus £5m in add-ons, started all 12 Premier League games for which he was available this season before suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-0 home win against Aston Villa on 1 December.
“After the tests we realized it was worse than we thought at the beginning,” Maresca said when asked why he initially estimated Fofana would be out for four or five weeks.
“Unfortunately, we will lose him for a while. I don’t think this kind of injury can be compared to others.
“Before that, he never had any muscle injury. It’s a different kind of injury. He’s a little bit unhappy, but he’ll be back and he’ll be as good as before.”
A late, late winner! 🇲🇦#CRY 21/22 ⏮️ pic.twitter.com/IEVUZE4519
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 3, 2025
Fofana’s history of injuries
Fofana will miss more than 100 Chelsea games until the 24-year-old recovers from his latest setback, his first since missing all of last season with a knee injury.
He was out for more than 10 weeks with a knee problem between October and December 2022 and sat out nine games with another knee problem shortly after.
Knee injuries caused the former French international to sit out 40 games in the 2019/20 seasons. and 2020/21, and Leicester lost him for most of the 2021/22 season. due to a broken leg.
Palace vs Chelsea
Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday (15:00 GMT) looking to win for the first time in four games and end a two-game losing streak, after being beaten 2-1 at home to Fulham on December 26 and losing 2-0 at Ipswich Town on Monday.
Against Fulham, we were leading until the 82nd minute, and then we conceded two goals, said Maresca. “Against Ipswich, it wasn’t our day. Their desire to win and not receive was greater.
NG with the winner at Selhurst Park! 💪#CRY 18/19 ⏮️ pic.twitter.com/F1rKuNYwMq
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 3, 2025
“We don’t like to lose games or drop points, but it won’t affect our journey. Don’t forget that this is a journey that started just five or six months ago.
“There are teams that have been together for five or six years and are fighting to win the Premier League. City, Arsenal and Liverpool are more prepared than us. We will be there – hopefully soon.
“I didn’t need to lose the game to realize that. I would like to tell you that we are here, because it is not something bad – it is something beautiful, to be in the race for the title.
“I shouldn’t have waited until I lost two in a row to prove myself right. I don’t think it’s bad form; we just analyze game by game.”
90.
Not #PL the player has made more tackles and interceptions combined than Moi Caicedo this season. 🇪🇨💪 pic.twitter.com/fZyYtpvVUx
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 2, 2025
Maresca: Chelsea ‘never asked’ for the Champions League
Maresca reiterated that he has not been set a target of finishing in the top four at the end of his first season in charge. “When I met the club, they never asked me to be in the Champions League this season,” he added.
“They asked me to build a team that could fight for the title in two, three, four or five years.”
