‘Unlucky’ Fofana could miss season with latest long-term injury

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 £70 million plus £5m in add-ons, had started all 12 of the Premier League games he was available for this season before suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-0 home win over Aston Villa on December 1.

“After tests, we realised that it was worse than we thought at the beginning,” Maresca said when he was asked why he had initially estimated Fofana would be out for four or five weeks.

“Unfortunately, we are going to lose him for a while. I don’t think this kind of injury can be compared to the rest.

“Previously, he never had any kind of muscle injury. It’s a different kind of injury. He’s a bit unlucky but he will be back and as good as he was before.”

A late, late winner! 🇲🇦#CRYCHE 21/22 ⏮️ pic.twitter.com/IEVUZE4519

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 3, 2025

Fofana injury history

Fofana will have missed well over 100 Chelsea matches by the time the 24-year-old recovers from his latest setback, which is his first since missing all of last season with a knee injury.

He was absent for more than 10 weeks with a knee problem between October and December 2022 and sat out nine games with another knee issue shortly afterwards.

Knee injuries caused the former France international to sit out 40 matches across the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns, and Leicester lost him for most of the 2021/22 season to a broken leg.

Palace vs Chelsea

Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday (3pm GMT) with the aim of winning for the first time in four games and ending a two-match losing run, having been beaten 2-1 at home by Fulham on December 26 and 2-0 at Ipswich Town on Monday.

“Against Fulham, we were leading until the 82nd minute and then conceded two goals,” said Maresca. “Against Ipswich, it was not our day. Their desire to win the game and not concede was higher.

NG with the winner at Selhurst Park! 💪#CRYCHE 18/19 ⏮️ pic.twitter.com/F1rKuNYwMq

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 3, 2025

“We don’t like to lose games or drop points, but it’s not going to affect our journey. Don’t forget that this is a journey that started just five or six months ago.

“There are teams who have been together for five or six years and are fighting to win the Premier League. Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool are more ready than us. We’re going to be there – hopefully soon.

“I didn’t need to lose a game to understand that. I would have liked to have told you we are there, because it’s not something bad – it’s something nice, to be in the title race.

“I didn’t need to wait to lose two in a row to prove that I am right. I don’t think it’s bad form; we just analyse it game-by-game.”

90.

No #PL 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 Champions League

Maresca reiterated that he has not been set a target of a top-four finish 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 in two, three, four or five years that could fight for the title.”