Why Chelsea's initial five-week Wesley Fofana lay-off has turned into potential season-ending injury | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has opened up on the moment they realised Wesley Fofana's hamstring injury was significantly worse than initially feared.

The 24-year-old was forced off during Chelsea's 3-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on December 1. It ruled the centre-back out of the Christmas period, however Maresca expected the defender to return in the New Year.

"Unfortunately, it’s bad news,” Maresca said last month. "It’s a hamstring problem. These kind of things require at least three, four, five weeks. In this moment, you lose 10 games or 12 games."

As Chelsea concluded 2024, ending on a two-game losing streak following league defeats to Fulham and Ipswich Town, Maresca was looking ahead to January. It appeared Fofana would be nearing a return, however unfortunately for Chelsea, that has become a distant dream.

Prior to their first match of 2025 away to Crystal Palace, Maresca confirmed Fofana is set for an extensive period of the sidelined due to his hamstring injury which could leave out for the remainder of the campaign.

Maresca said: "Unfortunately Wes will be out for a very long time.

"Unfortunately he could be out for the season, so we don't know exactly for the entire season, but unfortunately he could be out for part of the season."

IMAGO / Sports Press Photo

With Fofana's initial lay-off around five weeks extending to months out, Maresca was quizzed about the sizeable difference of Fofana's absence from the initial diagnosis.

The Chelsea boss explained following further tests, it was those additional examinations which revealed the severity of the injury.

"No, it was the first update, the first information we had, but then making tests we realised that it was worse than what we thought at the beginning," added Maresca,

"Yeah, it's hamstring and unfortunately we are going to lose him for a while."