It came as a big blow to Chelsea when Wesley Fofana suffered the latest in a long line of long-term injuries at the start of last month.
Unfortunately, Wesley Fofana picked up a serious hamstring problem in early December, leaving a sizeable hole in the Chelsea squad.
The 24-year-old central defender had been an important figure for Blues manager Enzo Maresca in the first half of the season, but he’s been sidelined for another extended period of time.
Maresca previously claimed Chelsea’s Fofana could miss the rest of the 2024/25 season because his injury was worse than first appeared. However, Fofana insisted he could be back for Chelsea by March.
Chelsea’s hopes for Wesley Fofana as he starts training on the grass again
According to The Daily Mail, Fofana is now back on the grass at Chelsea’s training ground as he goes through individual work.
Apparently, the Blues now hope that the centre-back can return to action before the end of the campaign.
The report says that Chelsea won’t rush the Frenchman’s latest return from injury, but he’s making good progress as he starts running drills again in training. If all goes according to plan, he should return in time to help them with their run-in.
It’ll be a major boost if Fofana can return to play a part towards the back end of the season. His combination at centre-half next to Levi Colwill was beginning to really blossom. Incidentally, Noni Madueke said Fofana and Colwill compliment each other in Chelsea’s defence.
Wesley Fofana was in fantastic form before setback
Fofana was playing some of his best football in Chelsea colours earlier this season. It’s been stop-start for him at Stamford Bridge after arriving from Leicester City in 2022, but there’s no doubt he’s got supreme talent with his athleticism in defence.
Here is a look at the centre-back’s form just before his latest injury blow:
Date | Competition | Match | Minutes played | Match rating |
1 December | Premier League | Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa | 60 | 7.5 |
23 November | Premier League | Leicester City 1-2 Chelsea | 90 | 7.5 |
10 November | Premier League | Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal | 90 | 7.3 |
3 November | Premier League | Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea | 90 | 7.8 |
27 October | Premier League | Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle United | 90 | 7.0 |
Martin Keown said Fofana was fulfilling his potential at Chelsea this season before he was stopped in his tracks by injury.
It’s getting to a stage where Blues supporters are running out of patience with the defender because his fitness is unreliable, so it’ll be interesting to see how much longer the club persists with him. The advantage that the player has is he’s currently on a long-term deal that doesn’t expire until 2029.