Wesley Fofana damage: Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says defender may miss remainder of season with hamstring drawback | Soccer information

Chelsea have been dealt a serious blow of their bid to resurrect their faltering type after head coach Enzo Maresca admitted centre-back Wesley Fofana may miss the remainder of the season.

The 24-year-old has not performed since being substituted within the second half of the 3-0 win over Aston Villa final month.

Maresca was unable to touch upon whether or not the torn hamstring would require surgical procedure, however it’s nonetheless a blow for a participant who missed all of final season with a again damage. anterior cruciate ligament.

“Sadly, he could possibly be out for the season,” stated the top coach. “We do not know for certain for the entire season, however he may undoubtedly be out for a few of it.”

It was initially hoped that Fofana, who had shaped a powerful central protection partnership alongside Levi Colwill this season, would solely be out for a number of weeks.

That evaluation was made within the days following the win over Villa at Stamford Bridge on December 1, however additional testing and evaluation seems to have condemned the France worldwide to a different season severely curtailed by damage.

He has made simply 15 Premier League appearances in 2022-23, his first season after becoming a member of Leicester in a £75million deal, whereas his time on the King Energy Stadium has additionally been disrupted by health points bodily.

Their defeat is additional compounded by the continued absence of Benoit Badiashile, who changed Fofana towards Villa and featured within the 4-3 win over Tottenham on December 8, however is anticipated to be out till February.

“Everytime you ask me about Wes, I say repeatedly that I like Wes, as a result of he is that sort of defender who offers you the possibility to press and be aggressive and go for a counter one with (Ollie) Watkins,” Maresca says.

“We did precisely the identical factor when Wes acquired injured with Benoit, one on one with (Dominic) Solanke and [both defenders] can deal with this. It’s extremely tough to search out this sort of defender. Now each are injured and we’re looking for totally different options.

“After all, Wes is a large loss.

“I do not suppose this sort of damage will be in comparison with the others. This one is muscular and earlier than he did not have any muscular issues, so it is fully totally different. It is a bit of dangerous luck, however he’ll come again and he can be good as he was earlier than he was injured.

Maresca can be anticipated to be with out Romeo Lavia for Saturday’s journey to Crystal Palace, with the midfielder’s absence thus far having coincided with a lack of type which has seen Chelsea fall from second to fourth place, though captain Reece James can begin for the primary time since November.

“Soccer is all concerning the gamers,” Maresca stated. “We will have the very best concepts, however in the event you don’t have the gamers, you battle.

“Romeo is a high participant for us and, after all, with him we’re a greater crew. We have now gained video games with out him and now we have misplaced video games with him, however we’re actually higher with him.

“We’re additionally a greater crew with Reece James. It is all concerning the gamers. I can provide them the instruments to carry out, but when they don’t seem to be adequate we’re not going to win.”

Chelsea January transfer plans

Chelsea have the unresolved drawback of a brand new striker left over from the summer season. They continued Victor Osimhen till the deadline however no deal materialized and he’s now on mortgage at Galatasaray.

Since then, they might hardly have requested for a greater begin to the season or higher type from Nicholas Jacksonwho was glorious as a central striker. It could have modified the fascinated about what sort of latest striker they want.

The spectacular Ipswich hitman Liam Delap is thought to Chelsea head of recruitment Joe Shields and head coach Maresca from their time collectively at Manchester Metropolis’s academy and plenty of high golf equipment, corresponding to what they’ve seen from Delap thus far this season.

Chelsea aren’t anticipated to do a lot else except different gamers depart and the one sure to take action is Ben Chilwell after being kicked off the crew. Carney Chukwuemeka is one other, whereas there may be additionally hypothesis round Christophe Nkunku And Axel Disasi.

Read Chelsea’s full transfer window plans here