Chelsea defender Fofana could miss rest of the season with hamstring injury

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana's season could be over because of a hamstring injury.

The 24-year-old Frenchman, who missed the entire 2023-24 campaign after ACL surgery, hasn't played since Dec. 1 when he was substituted out of the 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Blues manager Enzo Maresca said Friday that Fofana's injury was worse than initially feared and that the center back will be out “for a very long time." There was no immediate plan for surgery.

“He could be out for the season,” Maresca said. “We don’t know exactly if for the entire season, but unfortunately he could be out for part of the season."

Fofana became one of the most expensive defenders in soccer history when he joined Chelsea in the summer of 2022 from Leicester for a fee of 75 million pounds ($93 million).

“For sure, for us Wes is a huge loss,” Maresca said.

Fofana made only 15 Premier League appearances in 2022-23.

“I don’t think this kind of injury can be compared to the rest," Maresca said. "This one is muscle and I think that previously he never had any muscle problems, so it’s a completely different kind of injury. It’s a bit unlucky, but he will be back and he will be back good in the way he was before he was injured.”

Chelsea is fourth in the Premier League standings, 10 points behind leader Liverpool. The Blues play at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

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