Wesley Fofana ‘could be out for the season’ says Maresca | OneFootball

Enzo Marseca says that Wesley Fofana could be out for the rest of the season after picking up a hamstring injury at the start of December.

Fofana, still only 24 years old, has had a torrid time with injuries in his career with this his third long-term injury already, having had a cruciate ligament tear last season which kept him out for 350 days and at Leicester in 2021, when he had a broken fibula which kept him out for seven months.

Maresca said: “Unfortunately he could be out for the season, yeah. We don’t know exactly if it’s for the entire season, he could be out for part of the season.

“After tests, we realised it was worse than what we thought in the beginning. It’s his hamstring and unfortunately we’re going to lose him for a while.

“I don’t think this kind of injury can be compared to the rest (of his injuries). It’s a completely different kind of injury.

The Italian also praised the centre-back: “Every time you ask me about Wes, I said many times that I’m in love with Wes, also because he is that kind of defender that gives you the chance to press and be aggressive and to leave him one v one.”

Fellow central defender Benoit Badiashile will also be out until at least next month, the Chelsea boss revealed, though Romeo Lavia is closing in on a return to action.

“Romeo is very close, he has started to work with us. For the rest, not any updates. Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall) is still out.”

More encouraging news for Chelsea fans is that Reece James is fit and could return to action against Crystal Palace: “He is back. In the last game, he was with us in the squad but the plan was not to give him minutes. Tomorrow we can give him minutes. Hopefully he can get minutes very soon.”