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.
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“We have no news at the moment, it happened two days ago so we have to wait a little longerdeclared Maresca 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 matches 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.
Asked about his future choices, Maresca replied Tuesday that “Benoît (Badiashile) could be one of the solutions. But we also have Tosin (Adarabioyo), Axel (Disasi) and different players”.
Fofana’s package, “It’s a big loss because Wes was fantastic in every gamehe admitted. We need to find different solutions.”
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.
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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.
“Being in the race for the title is a lot of pressure for me and for the players”Maresca said. But the Italian does not rank his team among the contenders. “The previous two seasons, Arsenal were very, very close to City. Liverpool was there too. We were very far from City”he added, before projecting: “I hope we can be there soon”.
Long stalled, Chelsea had an excellent second half of the season to finish sixth in the last Premier League. The American owners nevertheless decided to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino to recruit Maresca, second division champion with Leicester.
