Wesley Fofana injury: Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says defender could miss rest of season with hamstring problem | Football news
Chelsea have been dealt a major blow in their bid to revive their faltering form after head coach Enzo Maresca admitted that centre-back Wesley Fofana could miss the rest of the season.
The 24-year-old has not played since being substituted in the second half of last month’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Maresca could not say whether the torn hamstring will require surgery, but it is still a damaging blow for a player who missed all of last season with an ACL injury.
“Unfortunately, he could be out for the season,” the head coach said. “We don’t know exactly about the whole season, but he could certainly miss part of it.”
It was initially hoped that Fofana, who has formed an impressive central defense partnership with Levi Colwill this season, would only be out for a few weeks.
That assessment was made in the days following the win against Villa at Stamford Bridge on December 1, but further tests and analysis appear to have condemned the France international to another season severely curtailed by injury.
He made just 15 Premier League appearances in 2022-23, his first season after joining from Leicester in a £75m deal, while his time at the King Power Stadium was also marred by fitness issues.
His loss is further complicated by the permanent absence of Benoit Badiashile, who replaced Fofana against Villa and played in the 4-3 win against Tottenham on December 8 but is expected to be out until February.
“Every time you ask me about Wes, I’ve said a lot of times I’m in love with Wes, because he’s the type of defender that gives you a chance to press and be aggressive and go one-on-one with (Ollie) Watkins,” Maresca said.
“We did exactly the same thing when Wes got injured with Benoit, one-on-one with (Dominic) Solanke and [both defenders] can handle it. It is very difficult to find such a defender. Now both of them are injured and we are trying to find different solutions.
“Certainly, Wes is a great loss.
“I don’t think an injury like this can be compared to others. This is a muscle injury and he hasn’t had any muscle problems before so it’s completely different. It’s a bit unfortunate but he’ll be back and he’ll be as good as he was before he got hurt.”
Maresca is also set to be without Romeo Lavia for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace, the midfielder has so far been sidelined with a loss of form which has seen Chelsea drop from second to fourth, although captain Reece James could start for the first time since November.
Football revolves around players, said Maresca. “We can have the best ideas, but if you don’t have the players, you struggle.
“Romeo is a top player for us and we are certainly a better team with him. We won games without him and lost games with him, but we are certainly better with him.
“We’re also a better team with Reece James. It’s all about the players. I can give them the tools to perform, but if they’re not good enough, we’re not going to win.”
‘Maresca put on a brave face as he broke the news of Fofana’s injury’
Sky Sports News reporter James Cole at Chelsea training:
“You could sense the enormity of Wesley Fofana’s injury problem from the way Enzo Maresca spoke about his centre-back and his tone.
The standouts for me were “‘I’m in love with Wes” and “We’re a better team with Wes, a much, much better team”.
“Maresca has not ruled out signing another central defender in this window – but even if he tries, it won’t be easy.
“The fact that he has recalled Aaron Anselmino from his loan at Boca Juniors suggests that he is planning with what he has.
“Maresca was brave – and the imminent return of Reece James and Romeo Lavia softens the blow somewhat – but you could sense the Chelsea boss was in less spirits today than before Christmas.”
Chelsea’s plans for the January transfer window
Chelsea have an unresolved issue of a new striker who has stayed over since the summer. They persecuted Victor Osimhen right at the deadline, but no agreement was reached and he is now on loan at Galatasaray.
Since then, they could hardly have wished for a better start to the season or a better form Nicholas Jacksonwho performed well as a central striker. Maybe that changed the thinking about what kind of new striker they need.
Ipswich’s impressive killer Liam Delap he is familiar to Chelsea’s head of recruitment Joe Shields and head coach Maresca from their time together in Manchester City’s academy and a number of bigger clubs like what they have seen from Delap so far this term.
Chelsea are not expected to do much more unless other players leave, and one they certainly will Ben Chilwell after being frozen out of the squad. Carney Chukwuemeka is another, while also being speculated Christopher Nkunku and Axel Disasi.
