Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has moved to end the confusion surrounding centre-back Wesley Fofana's latest move. injury.
Fofana went down with a thigh injury in early December, which he immediately described as “a light warning” and “nothing serious”, but after a month on the sidelines, Maresca publicly revealed there was a chance the 24-year-old could be out for the remainder of the season.
It is learned that the Italian's statement was was met with confusion from Fofanawho allegedly took to social media to claim that Maresca's comments were simply “not true”. A time frame of four to six weeks is mentioned in quotes attributed to Fofana.
Asked about the dispute, Maresca admitted that Fofana does not agree with it Chelsea diagnosis of medical personnel.
“We speak the same language in terms of communicating with each other in English and French, so it's been pretty clear,” he said. “I spoke to Wes – the 12 to 16 weeks the club mentioned is the situation.
“Wes is thinking he can recover faster than that. We're all happy if Wes recovers and is available for tomorrow, but we'll see.
“It's no problem, I just told you what the medical staff told me, that it's about 12 to 16 weeks. Wes is thinking he can recover sooner than that. We're all happy if Wes comes back as soon as possible possible.”
Concerns over Fofana's availability have fueled speculation of a move to re-sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace. Loanee Trevoh Chalobah, who is also with the Eagles, could be recalled to add more numbers.
“The only thing I can say is that Marc Guehi is a Palace player”, emphasized Maresca. “I like Marc for sure, but he's not our player. But I also like the centre-backs we have. I also like different types of centre-backs in Italy, Spain and France, but that doesn't mean we're going to buy a player .
“It's a normal situation, I think when you have an injured center back, the speculation is there. At the same time, there is nothing there.
“(The Chalobah situation) is exactly the same. Unfortunately I have to give you the same answer. Trev is a good player but at the moment he is a Palace player so we will see.”