Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana has withdrawn from the latest France squad due to a knee issue.
Les Bleus confirmed on Monday that the former Leicester centre-back would not join up with Didier Deschamps’ group at their Clairefontaine training base this week having initially been named in the 23-man squad for year-ending Nations League matches against Israel and Italy.
Fofana has been replaced on France duty by Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard, who had missed out on the last three squads. Reports claim that Ousmane Dembele could also be absent for France after a hamstring issue suffered with Paris Saint-Germain over the weekend.
In a short statement, France said: “Wesley Fofana, who is experiencing pain in his knee, will not take part in the gathering with the Blues. Benjamin Pavard is called in as reinforcement.”
News of Fofana’s withdrawal from international duty comes less than 24 hours after he played the full 90 minutes for Chelsea and impressed in their 1-1 Premier League draw with London rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
Reports in France earlier on Monday morning claimed that the 23-year-old has been dealing with inflammation in his knee tendon since the league win over Newcastle last month, with Chelsea understandably unwilling to take any risks with the fitness of a key player who has an unfortunate history of serious injuries.
Fofana has played both league matches since that Newcastle win, against Manchester United and Arsenal, in full, but was rested for the Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle and last week’s 8-0 hammering of Armenian side FC Noah in the Conference League.
He has started all but one of resurgent Chelsea’s 11 matches in the top-flight so far this term as part of a first-choice centre-back pairing under new manager Enzo Maresca alongside England’s Levi Colwill, missing only the 2-1 loss at Liverpool in October having incurred an automatic one-match suspension for collecting five yellow cards.
Fofana - a £70million signing from Leicester - missed the entirety of last season following anterior cruciate ligament surgery performed in the summer and later suffering a meniscus injury, while he was restricted to only 22 appearances in his maiden campaign at Chelsea in 2022/23 due to another serious knee injury.
He previously missed seven months of action at former club Leicester after breaking his leg during pre-season in the summer of 2022.
Speaking about Fofana after the knock suffered against Newcastle last month, Maresca admitted that the Chelsea defender’s injury history meant that he would likely feel pain for the rest of his career.
“He had a bad movement in the first half, very bad,” said Maresca. “But he’s a fighter. He was there, probably with pain, playing with the pain.
“I said in one of my last press conferences that I really love Wes because it’s not easy after more than one year out to come back and be a fighter in the way he is.
“Now he is also fighting with the pain. When you have that kind of injury, you’re going to feel pain for the rest of your career. Unfortunately, it’s like this. He finished well. He looks okay.”
