Wesley Fofana has seemingly rubbished Enzo Maresca’s claim that the Chelsea star will miss the rest of the season through injury.
The centre-back has been out of action since hobbling off with a hamstring issue during the 3-0 win over Aston Villa at the start of December.
Initially, Maresca said that Fofana would be sidelined for a month but ahead of Saturday’s draw at Crystal Palace, the head coach revealed that his star defender ‘could be out for the season’.
‘We don’t know exactly. But having a test, we realised it was worst than what we thought at the beginning. It is hamstring and unfortunately, we are going to lose him for a while.’
The news comes as a huge blow to Chelsea and their hopes of winning the Premier League and finishing in the top four, with defensive solidity being the side’s biggest issue.
However, all may not be as it seems, with reports emerging that Fofana is aiming to be back on the pitch within a matter of weeks.
According to L’Equipe, Chelsea’s medical team have recommended that the France international undergo surgery to aid his recovery from this injury.
The procedure would rule him out for at least three months, however it is said the 24-year-old does not want this, while Maresca also said that he did not believe Fofana would need to have surgery either.
Fuelling this speculation is an apparent message between Fofana and one of his fan-accounts on Instagram, where the player responded to the claim that he would miss the rest of the campaign.
Translated from French, Fofana supposedly wrote: ‘It’s not true!
‘I’m not out for the rest of the season, I don’t know why he [Maresca] said that. I will be back in 4-6 weeks.’
If accurate, the centre-back could make his return as early as February 14 when Chelsea travel to Brighton.
Whatever the truth, Maresca opted to hand Josh Acheampong his full debut in defence against Palace and the teenager impressed despite the Blues conceding a late equaliser.
The Italian hailed the 18-year-old’s performance, saying post-match: ‘I think for sure, Josh was our best player because of his age, it was his first game.
‘Josh, for me, can be a top player for this club but he needs the right path, the right moment; for young players, you need to decide which moment.
‘Even if we don’t decide to buy players or sell players because Josh has shown he is good. We already knew Josh was good enough. Probably with Wes and Benoit [Badiashile] injuries, we will see if something is going to happen.’
Chelsea are next in action when they host Morecambe in the FA Cup third-round this Saturday.
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