Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana has undergone anterior cruciate ligament surgery which is set to rule him out of action for several months.
The 22-year-old did not travel with the Blues squad on a pre-season tour to the United States in order to have “specialist medical assessments”.
Wesley Fofana at a match for Chelsea. Source: Getty
A statement from Chelsea has confirmed that the France centre-back required an operation. It read;
“Defender Wesley Fofana has undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery. The 22-year-old did not travel to America for the club’s pre-season tour due to specialist medical assessments, which unfortunately confirmed that an operation would be required.
“Wesley will now begin his recovery and work with the club’s medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation phase.”
ACL surgery usually rules a player out of action for six to nine months and it is a blow for Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino as he looks to build a new-look starting XI ahead of the 2023-24 Premier League season which gets underway on August 11.
Chelsea’s new coach, Mauricio Pochettino. Source: Getty
Fofanahas suffered several injury setbacks in the past and broke his leg playing for former club Leicester in a pre-season friendly two years ago.
The France international returned to action in March 2022 before sealing a £75m move to Chelsea later that summer. But he then suffered a knee injury that ruled him out for more than two months and became a recurring problem once he returned to training.
Before the knee injury which led to an ACL surgery, Wesley Fofana was set to play a more influential role this season following the departure of defenders Kalidou Koulibaly to Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and former club captain Cesar Azpilicueta to La Liga side Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea’s 29-man travelling squad for their pre-season tour of the United States includes new signings Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Angelo Gabriel, Diego Moreira, and Dujuan Richards, plus Malo Gusto and Andrey Santos, who both joined in January before being sent straight back out on loan.
