Chelsea have been dealt a huge blow in their bid to revive their faltering form after head coach Enzo Maresca admitted that centre-back Wesley Fofana could miss the rest of the season.
The 24-year-old has not played since being substituted in the second half of last month's 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Maresca could not say whether the tear in his hamstring will require surgery, but it is still a damaging blow for a player who missed all of last season with an ACL injury.
“Unfortunately, he could be out for the season,” the head coach said. “We don't know exactly for the whole season, but he could certainly be out for part of it.”
It was initially hoped that Fofana, who has formed an impressive central defensive partnership with Levi Colwill this season, would only be out for a few weeks.
That assessment was made in the days following the win against Villa at Stamford Bridge on December 1, but further tests and analysis appear to have condemned the France international to another season severely curtailed by injury.
He made just 15 Premier League appearances in 2022-23, his first season after joining from Leicester in a £75million deal, while his time at the King Power Stadium was also marred by fitness issues.
His loss has been compounded by the continued absence of Benoit Badiashile, who replaced Fofana against Villa and played in the 4-3 win against Tottenham on December 8, but is expected to be sidelined until February.
Chelsea could be without Wesley Fofana for the rest of the season
“Every time you ask me about Wes, I've said a lot of times I'm in love with Wes because he's the type of defender that gives you the opportunity to press and be aggressive and go one-on-one with (Ollie) Watkins,” she said. Maresca.
“We did exactly the same thing when Wes got injured with Benoit, one-on-one with (Dominic) Solanke and (both defenders) can handle it. It's very difficult to find that kind of defender. Now they're both injured and we're trying to find different solutions.
Fofana has missed seven league games so far
“For sure, Wes is a huge loss.
“I don't think an injury like this can be compared to others. This is a muscle and he hasn't had any problems with muscles before so it's completely different. It's a bit unfortunate but he'll be back and he'll be as good as he was before that he was hurt.”
Maresca is also set to be without Romeo Lavia for Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace, as the midfielder's absence so far has coincided with a loss of form that has seen Chelsea drop from second to fourth, although captain Rhys James could start for the first time since November.
Fofana missed the entire holiday period
“In football it's all about the players,” Maresca said. “We can have the best ideas, but if you don't have the players, you struggle.
“Romeo is a top player for us and we are certainly a better team with him. We won games without him and we lost games with him, but we are certainly better with him.
“We're also a better team with Reece James. It's all about the players. I can give them the tools to perform, but if they're not good enough, we're not going to win.”
Chelsea is planning for the January transfer window
Chelsea have had the issue of a new striker unresolved since the summer. They chased Victor Osimhen right at the deadline, but no agreement was reached and he is now on loan at Galatasaray.
Since then, they could hardly have asked for a better start to the season or a better form Nicolas Jacksonwho was excellent as a central striker. Perhaps that changed their thinking about what kind of new striker they needed.
Ipswich's impressive killer Liam Delap is familiar to Chelsea's head of recruitment Joe Shields and head coach Maresca from their time together at Manchester City's academy and a number of bigger clubs like what they have seen from Delap so far this term.
Chelsea are not expected to do anything else unless other players leave, and one that is certain to do so Ben Chilwell after being frozen from the team. Carney Chukwuemeka is another, and there is also speculation around it Christopher Nkunku and Axel Disasi.