He won’t make it! French defender Wesley Fofana, injured on Sunday with Chelsea, will be unavailable for “several weeks”, his coach, Enzo Maresca, announced on Tuesday, saddened by this “great loss”. The 23-year-old full-back suffered a muscle injury (to his hamstrings, according to the press) during Chelsea’s 3-0 victory against Aston Villa. He limped off the field when he was replaced by his compatriot Benoît Badiashile.
“We have no news at the moment, it happened two days ago so we have to wait a little longer,” Maresca said at a press conference. “But he will be unavailable for the next few weeks, that’s for sure.” Fofana has started all but one of the Premier League games this season due to suspension. He played in the center or on the right side of the defense.
The Chelsea rearguard is without Fofana and Reece James, the captain, also in the infirmary for several weeks, according to Maresca. And right-back Malo Gusto has been struggling to find a starting place for some time. Fofana’s withdrawal, “it’s a big loss because + Wes + was fantastic in every match,” admitted Maresca. “We need to find different solutions.”
A massacre among the Blues
The Frenchman has had a string of injuries since his arrival in England, with Leicester then Chelsea, whom he joined in the summer of 2022. The original Marseillais missed the entire 2023-2024 season after suffering a ligament rupture crossed the right knee.
With him, the “Blues” have started the current season on the right foot. They are third after 13 days with 25 points, like second-placed Arsenal, two units ahead of Manchester City, the reigning quadruple champion of England. In November, Fofana had to give up the Blues rally due to a knee problem.
Called by Didier Deschamps in September, he had already been forced to give up to take care of a body battered by injuries. The following month, he had no playing time with the Blues. He is not the only international currently on the sidelines. Benjamin Pavard, who replaced him in November, recently suffered a strained hamstring in his left thigh. According to different sources, he will be away from the field for three weeks.
Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool), injured in a knee, will not play again before January 2025. As for Eduardo Camavinga, a muscular injury to the biceps femoris of the left leg, contracted in the Champions League against Liverpool on November 27, will cause him to miss several Real Madrid matches. Luckily, the next meeting of the French team is not scheduled before March 2025 with the double confrontation against Croatia, on March 20 and 23, in the quarter-final of the League of Nations.
