Chelsea suffer fresh Wesley Fofana injury concern

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 18 July 2023

Chelsea are dealt a blow ahead of their pre-season tour of the United States with Wesley Fofana missing the trip due to a knee issue.

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana has emerged as a doubt for the start of the new campaign with a knee injury.

The Premier League outfit fly out to the United States this week for a pre-season tour that features as many as five matches.

New head coach Mauricio Pochettino has selected a 29-player squad, featuring a number of prospects and youngsters to beef up the numbers.

However, there is a number of notable absentees, including Reece James who may still link up with the group at a later date having recently fell unwell and undergone scans on a knee issue.

Armando Broja will not be risked as he attempts to up his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury sustained in December, while Marcus Bettinelli and Benoit Badiashile are also missing.

Chelsea's new manager Mauricio Pochettino during the press conference on July 7, 2023 © Reuters

Arguably most concerning to Pochettino and the club in general will be that of Fofana, who is again said to be carrying an injury to his knee.

Since his £70m transfer from Leicester City last summer, Fofana has made just 12 starts and three substitute outings in all competitions, a further five starts coming in the Champions League.

As per the Evening Standard, the 22-year-old's injury is currently being assessed and the plan is for him to remain at Cobham.

The one-cap France international has been plagued by injury issues during his time at Stamford Bridge, with two knee issues keeping him absent from October until February.

Chelsea's Wesley Fofana celebrates scoring against Leeds United on March 4, 2023 © Reuters

Fofana returned to play some part of 14 of Chelsea's final 16 games in the Premier League, yet his fitness needed to be managed on more than one occasion.

The centre-back completed 90 minutes just five times during that period, yet there had been hope that he would be in ideal condition to start against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.

Unless he travels to the United States at a later date, that is now highly unlikely to be the case with Pochettino eager to develop partnerships over the coming weeks.

Chelsea's first friendly is against Wrexham on Wednesday night, with Pochettino expected to use as many of his squad as possible to ease them back into match action.