Chelsea star Wesley Fofana appears to deny Enzo Maresca's claim about his season-ending injury

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana has denied coach Enzo Maresca's claims that the player may miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season. The French centre-back is currently out injured, having torn his hamstring in a league game against Aston Villa last month (December 1, 2024).

Speaking ahead of his side's league game against Crystal Palace on Saturday (January 4), Maresca suggested that there was a lot of uncertainty with regards to Fofana's injury. The former Leicester City boss further pointed out that the Frenchman may not feature for the side this season.

"Unfortunately, he (Fofana) could be out for the season. We don’t know exactly but he could be out for part of the season," Maresca said (via FotMob).

Wesley Fofana recently took to Instagram to respond to this speculation. In an interaction with a fan page, the former Leicester defender said he was expecting to return to action before the end of the season.

"That'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," Fofana wrote (via Metro).

Fofana has been plagued by injuries since Thomas Tuchel signed him for Chelsea in 2022. The France international has played just 32 games for the club since then, with 12 of them coming this season alone. Fofana injured his hamstring against Aston Villa in freak fashion, as he trod on the ball while trying to prevent his side from conceding.

Chelsea boss Maresca had Benoit Badiashile fill in for Fofana, but an injury to the Frenchman also meant that Tosin Adarabioyo, and most recently, Josh Acheampong have played at centre-back. The Blues may look to sign a new defender this month.

Chelsea star closes in on Serie A switch - Reports

Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei appears set to end his time at Stamford Bridge by joining Serie A side Torino, as per Di Marzio. The Turin-based side have shown an interest in the 21-year-old midfielder and would like to sign him this month.

The report said Casadei has agreed to a permanent move to Torino from the Blues this month. The Serie A outfit have offered €12 million with a percentage of a future resale, while the Blues want €20 million and a buy-back clause.

Both sides will continue negotiations for the former Inter Milan man to return to Italy in the coming days. With just six appearances to his name this season, Italy U-21 star Casadei is set to move elsewhere for more minutes.