Why Chelsea DON'T need to sign a Fofana replacement

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 18 Jul 2023 16:11 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea have confirmed that French defender Wesley Fofana has undergone anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery after suffering another knee injury in pre-season.

The former Leicester City defender missed 20 games due a knee injury last campaign, while he suffered similar issues with the Foxes and at his first senior club, St Etienne.

He was not included in Chelsea’s pre-season squad for their tour of the United States of America due to medical examinations, which revealed that Fofana would require surgery.

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The Frenchman is expected to be sidelined until 2024 and could miss the entirety of next season, if some reports are to be believed.

His injury means Mauricio Pochettino will be without a key member of the Blues squad for a prolonged period of time, but Chelsea have enough cover to avoid dipping into the transfer market in search of a panic-buy.

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Chelsea don’t need to panic

While an injury before the season has begun is devastating news for Fofana, it does provide Pochettino the time needed to reassess his options ahead of the Blues’ first Premier League game of the 2023/24 season against Liverpool.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has reported that Chelsea “will explore the centre-back market in the next few days and weeks,” but confirmed they would only act “if they find the right option.”

That is crucial as a panic-buy is the last thing Chelsea need. The Blues have made a concerted effort to clear their squad ahead of the new season, with Pochettino said to have already cultivated a togetherness that was lacking last season.

The squad has been trimmed down to only players who are committed to the club and the pre-season omissions of Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech, Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang and Callum Hudson-Odoi are testament to that. All four players are expected to move on in the coming days.

However, despite raising nearly €250 million in player sales this summer - with 11 players departing Stamford Bridge on permanent deals since the start of July - Chelsea are already well-stocked in defence and must save their cash for a full-blooded attempt to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion.

The west London club have reportedly had a second bid worth €81.5m (£70m) rejected by Brighton, although the Ecuador international wants to join Chelsea and there’s little-to-no competition for his signature, which does put the Blues in a fairly strong negotiating position.

In spite of this, there’s no need for Chelsea to dip into the market to sign a Fofana replacement.

The early whispers from the Blues camp suggest that Pochettino wants to implement a 4-2-3-1 formation next season, with the full-backs pushed high and the number nine leading a high press when out-of-possession.

As a result, Chelsea’s crop of five senior centre-backs, including Fofana, was well-stocked for this change in system. With Fofana expected to be out for the majority of the season, it leaves Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah as Chelsea’s four main centre-backs for the season.

With no European football to contend with, that quartet should be deep enough to manage all campaign without Fofana. Furthermore, academy graduate Bashir Humphreys could be given a chance in the first-team after impressing Pochettino in training following his successful six-month loan spell at Paderborn.

That leaves Pochettino with five viable options to play at centre-back next season, plus Marc Cucurella could potentially be used there in an emergency situation, which is more than plausible given Chelsea will mostly play once a week due to their absence from Europe.

Fofana’s injury is cruel luck for a player who can’t seem to string a run of games together, but it isn’t fully detrimental to Chelsea’s squad and shouldn’t result in a panic-buy that could derail their pursuit of other transfer targets.