Wesley Fofana has made his much anticipated return to action for Chelsea this season, but according to reports Enzo Maresca and his coaching staff have come to an agreement about his playing time.
Fofana was a big money signing back in 2022 with the Blues paying Leicester City an initial £70m for the 23-year-old, but his time in west London has been plagued by injury.
The France international missed the entire of last season with an ACL injury and it very much feels like his Chelsea career is yet to get going.
Maresca’s Fofana strategy revealed
Fofana had the summer off and returned to action in pre-season, where he worked on his fitness and match sharpness ahead of the new campaign.
The Frenchman came through pre-season unscathed and has started all seven of Chelsea’s Premier League games so far this season alongside Levi Colwill, with the pair Maresca’s first choice defensive partnership.
It seems that Fofana hasn’t suffered any injury setbacks following his return to competitive action and has even got himself back in the France squad.
Maresca has been careful in managing Fofana’s minutes and the defender was omitted from Chelsea’s squad for the league phase of the Conference League.
However, a recent report from French publication L’Equipe as cited by Get French Football News has stated that Maresca has “fallen in love” with the defender and he’s even agreed with his coaching staff he will only play once a week until the start of 2025.
It makes sense for Chelsea to be cautious with Fofana given his recent injury history and the Blues are in a position with such a strong squad and so many options that they can afford to make decisions like this.
Fofana seems very settled at the club, but did reveal in the summer he had received an approach from Marseille, which he turned down and the Blues will be hoping he can keep improving and stay fit for the remainder of the campaign and beyond.
