Blow for Chelsea as first-team star suffers another injury setback

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana picked up an injury during the friendly vs Brentford

According to The Athletic (subscription required), Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana picked up a suspected knee injury during the friendly against Brentford.

The friendly was organised behind closed doors as part of the preparation ahead of the Blues season resumption on 27th December with a league game against Bournemouth.

Although Graham Potter’s men won the game 5-1, it was overshadowed by the fact that Fofana seemed to have picked up a suspected knee injury. The club will now assess the extent of the injury and diagnose the treatment/recovery time needed.

The Frenchman, who missed a chance to feature in the World Cup after picking up a knee injury against AC Milan in early October at Stamford Bridge, only returned to training this month when the team was in Abu Dhabi for a mid-season training camp.

While missing out on playing in the World Cup would have been tough enough, having to deal with another injury would be too much for the 22-year-old. We can only hope that this setback does not keep him out for long. The former Leicester City defender has only made six appearances for Chelsea since arriving in the summer.

While Fofana news would not please manager Potter, he has welcomed back four World Cup-bound stars to full training in the last 48 hours.

The players who were knocked out of the quarter-finals – Thiago Silva (Brazil), Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling and Conor Gallagher (all England), are now back and should be available to play when Chelsea play their first competitive game back.

More Chelsea News:

• Benfica join Chelsea and other English clubs in race to sign MLS striker Jhon Duran
• Chelsea star Christian Pulisic rues missed opportunity against the Netherlands
• Transfer News: Chelsea eyeing Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez in January

On the injury front, we have already seen one youngster Armando Broja pick up a nasty ACL injury during the friendly against Aston Villa last week that is going to keep him out for the rest of this season. If not for the Bournemouth game, let’s hope that Fofana is back by January.