Wesley Fofana appears to have suffered a fresh injury setback during a behind-closed-doors friendly between Chelsea and Brentford on Tuesday. The French defender was forced off during the match at Kingsmeadow, with reports suggesting he was again struggling with a knee issue. According to Chelsea expert Simon Phillips, Fofana 'looked upset' as he departed the pitch.
The 22-year-old has endured a difficult spell at Stamford Bridge since his £75million move from Leicester City, making just six appearances before suffering a knee injury in October's win over AC Milan. That problem ruled him out of the World Cup, and he had only recently returned to training, though he did not feature in the friendly against Aston Villa.
Fofana, however, moved to play down the latest scare, writing on Instagram: "Nothing bad, champion, not even 1 month, we're back to break everything." The severity of the issue is not yet known, and he has not played a competitive game for Chelsea since the Milan match.
Chelsea prevailed 5-1 in the three-quarter friendly, with Kai Havertz scoring a hat-trick, while Mason Mount was missing from the squad. Manager Graham Potter is already without Armando Broja for the rest of the season after the striker suffered a knee injury against Villa, and N'Golo Kante is sidelined until February with a hamstring problem.
There was more positive news on the injury front, however, with Reece James pictured in training recently and Carney Chukwuemeka making progress. Potter remains optimistic about the return of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ben Chilwell, saying: "Reece James has moved forward. Carney Chukwuemeka is moving forward so that's positive. Hopefully Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ben Chilwell can also take a step forward in their rehab next week."
