“To Chelsea fans, you have the most prodigiously talented young centre-back in the world. » Gary Lineker imagined a completely different destiny for Wesley Fofana when he signed with the Blues in August 2022. At the end of a long series and a standoff with Leicester, the Frenchman ended up winning his case. The London club too, which still paid €80 million to secure his services, making the former Stéphanois at the time the 4th most expensive defender in history. What followed quickly turned into a nightmare.
The following October, he injured his knee for an absence of just over two months, ultimately extending until February. The dream of the World Cup slipped under his nose. “The season has not been easy. It was complicated for everyone. It was hard with this break with the World Cup., he rewinded in June during his only gathering with the France team. It shows that he was performing well since his 22 matches with his club were enough to convince Didier Deschamps. Except that bad luck didn’t let him go.
Already plagued by repeated injuries
The holidays are over and during the pre-season, another serious injury. In the middle of the summer, Chelsea announced that Fofana was not part of the group taken to the United States. The next day, the verdict falls. He suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. His return is planned for the end of winter while his teammates struggle to find the right formula under Mauricio Pochettino, who is banking heavily on his return to stabilize a defense which is taking on water. The 23-year-old defender is back on his feet and returns to training on November 23.
Towards a white season
It is on schedule, but in January, new concerns. Discomfort appears which doctors translate as a compensatory injury. We need to review his return. “No risks will be taken” blurted out a source at the club The Team. A new specific protocol is put in place to consolidate both knees and prevent all forms of relapse. Because it must be remembered, in August 2021 while he was still at Leicester, Fofana fractured his fibula. He returned the following March, before his transfer to Chelsea.
For the first time, the possibility of a white season is mentioned, but we still want to believe in his return by the end of the season, especially since after missing the World Cup, the player does not want to see the Euro 2024 is slipping under his nose. It’s getting there unfortunately. Mauricio Pochettino revealed it to the press this Friday. “I don’t think we’ll see him again until the end of this season, unfortunately. You never know, of course, but the situation looks like this now.” Arriving in England in 2020 for €35 million, the Marseillais native has only played 52 Premier League matches since then. A real curse.
