Chelsea fear £70million defender Wesley Fofana could miss the rest of the season with a serious hamstring injury in a blow to the Blues' bid to ensure they secure a place in the top four.
Fofana joined from Leicester in August 2022. Since then, Chelsea have made 125 appearances in all competitions, but the 24-year-old Frenchman has only managed to appear in 32 due to a hellish injury record.
Manager Enzo Maresca confirmed at his press conference ahead of Crystal Palace that Fofana will now face another lengthy spell on the sidelines, although they have not yet decided whether he will require surgery.
With Benoit Badiashile also out until at least February, Maresca's defensive problems are mounting after losses to Ipswich and Fulham and draws to Everton.
As reported by Mail Sport, Aaron Anselmino has now been officially recalled from his loan to Boca Juniors, with the 19-year-old defender expected to remain at Chelsea.
“With Wes we are a better team, much, much better,” Maresca said ahead of Palace on Saturday. 'It's a big loss. We try to find different solutions. The first was Benoit, who did exactly the same against (Dominic) Solanke, against Tottenham, but then he got injured again.
“We had Wes, we lost Wes, we tried to find a solution with Benoit, now we've lost Benoit.”
Maresca reiterated that Chelsea are not in the Premier League title race, as he said of leaders Liverpool: 'Arne Slot is phenomenal. He's doing fantastic. Congratulations to him. We don't do the same. We are not phenomenal compared to those who win every game.'
More positive news is that Romeo Lavia is close to returning and could be part of the squad for Palace as Chelsea look to recover from their mini-slump. In any case, captain Reece James will also make the substitutes bench, and if he is present, he will wear the armband in place of Enzo Fernandez.
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