Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has admitted Wesley Fofana “could be out for the season” with his hamstring injury more serious than feared.
Fofana has been plagued by injuries since injuring his knee in October 2022, just months after arriving from City of Leicester in a deal worth around £69.5m. The Frenchman missed four months before tearing the cruciate ligament in his other knee at the end of his debut season.
A late return to full fitness at the start of the current campaign, Fofana started 12 of Chelsea’s first 13. Premier League matches – only leave the trip to Liverpool for suspension. The 24-year-old sat up with a hamstring complaint in early December and initially dismissed it as “nothing serious”.
However, after a month on the sidelines, Maresca told reporters on Friday: “Wes (Fofana) will be out for a long time. Unfortunately, she could be out for the season. We don’t know exactly, but she could be out for part of the season Every time you ask me about Wes, I’ve said many times that I’m in love with Wes.”
The Italian coach has not gone into details, but has confirmed that Fofana’s intervention would not be necessary “for now”.
While the Blues will be without Fofana for the foreseeable future, they are set to welcome back another injury-prone defender for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace. Maresca has revealed that club captain Reece James is “a few minutes in line” at Selhurst Park.
The skipper had been able to muster just four appearances in the entire previous season endure another hamstring problem in november James made the bench for Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat by Ipswich Town on Monday night and is set to take to the pitch in south London.
Fellow defender Benoit Badiashile is not expected back until February, while midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall remains sidelined with a knock. There has been a positive update for Romeo Lavia, a player who, according to Maresca, “is very close to returning”.
